Why We Need MLK Day
Anticipating the holiday, I type “Martin Luther King” into Google and get a list of resources (5,280,000, to be exact). The first link takes me to the MLK Papers Project at Stanford University. The second accesses a resource from the Seattle Times. Third, I click on a link to The King Center in Atlanta. The server for this center is out of service. I am drawn to the next link in line, one entitled “Martin Luther King Jr.—A True Historical Examination.”
Web composers can use invisible words to entice readers. The site I look at pops up high on the list because it includes these keywords: Martin Luther King Jr, Civil Rights, Black History, Slavery, Reparations, Kwanzaa, Anti-Defamation League, ADL, anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry, hatred, prejudice, bias, Holocaust, Israel, democracy, terrorism, militia, Jews, Jewish, diversity.” Etc. The embedded description makes Google say, “The truth about Martin Luther King. Includes historical trivia, articles and pictures. A valuable resource for teachers and students alike."
A photograph of Dr. King overshadows the text initially, but a “Rap Lyrics” link in a larger font catches my eye so I click it. Instead of finding a rap song, I find a tirade against Jews that introduces a long list of violent rap lyrics taken out of context interwoven with news stories of white people killed or victimized by black people.
Appearances are deceptive, especially on the Internet. I click to return to the main page. Reading the text to the left of the image of Dr. King, I realize that this is not a King-friendly site. Even with letters missing, the expletives presented as Dr. King’s reported words are easy to figure out. To the right, there is a menu with seven options, all of which look informative. They are—if you’re into decrying King. And there’s more. “Attention students! Try our MLK pop quiz!” one teaser says. “Bring the Dream to life in your town! Download flyers to take to your school!” invites another. “Why the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday should be repealed” looms large.
I believe in freedom of speech. I also believe that children are not born racist. They have to be taught. These days, if a student wants to do a report on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he or she is likely to go to the Internet. There, people who do not venerate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are very good at making their case. That’s one more reason we need to remind children of the legacy of this great man. Perhaps children who study Dr. King in school or church, or both, will be able to put troubling information into perspective and make informed decisions about what they want to believe.
When I attended Booker T. Washington High School in South Carolina, one among the first white students to attend South Carolina’s oldest high school for African Americans, we pretended to have a radio station. We, black and white together, would huddle in a little room to play records and talk over the intercom. That’s where I first heard the words of “I Have a Dream,” which we broadcast to the school one January long ago in honor of a man who did not yet have a national holiday. My high school experience taught me why we needed one.
The fifth link in my long list of resources takes me to the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Park and related resources. It’s worth a look:
Web composers can use invisible words to entice readers. The site I look at pops up high on the list because it includes these keywords: Martin Luther King Jr, Civil Rights, Black History, Slavery, Reparations, Kwanzaa, Anti-Defamation League, ADL, anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry, hatred, prejudice, bias, Holocaust, Israel, democracy, terrorism, militia, Jews, Jewish, diversity.” Etc. The embedded description makes Google say, “The truth about Martin Luther King. Includes historical trivia, articles and pictures. A valuable resource for teachers and students alike."
A photograph of Dr. King overshadows the text initially, but a “Rap Lyrics” link in a larger font catches my eye so I click it. Instead of finding a rap song, I find a tirade against Jews that introduces a long list of violent rap lyrics taken out of context interwoven with news stories of white people killed or victimized by black people.
Appearances are deceptive, especially on the Internet. I click to return to the main page. Reading the text to the left of the image of Dr. King, I realize that this is not a King-friendly site. Even with letters missing, the expletives presented as Dr. King’s reported words are easy to figure out. To the right, there is a menu with seven options, all of which look informative. They are—if you’re into decrying King. And there’s more. “Attention students! Try our MLK pop quiz!” one teaser says. “Bring the Dream to life in your town! Download flyers to take to your school!” invites another. “Why the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday should be repealed” looms large.
I believe in freedom of speech. I also believe that children are not born racist. They have to be taught. These days, if a student wants to do a report on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he or she is likely to go to the Internet. There, people who do not venerate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are very good at making their case. That’s one more reason we need to remind children of the legacy of this great man. Perhaps children who study Dr. King in school or church, or both, will be able to put troubling information into perspective and make informed decisions about what they want to believe.
When I attended Booker T. Washington High School in South Carolina, one among the first white students to attend South Carolina’s oldest high school for African Americans, we pretended to have a radio station. We, black and white together, would huddle in a little room to play records and talk over the intercom. That’s where I first heard the words of “I Have a Dream,” which we broadcast to the school one January long ago in honor of a man who did not yet have a national holiday. My high school experience taught me why we needed one.
The fifth link in my long list of resources takes me to the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Park and related resources. It’s worth a look:
If you have time, in fact, there are several million sites that you or your child can peruse, most of them reverent.
Felicia Mitchell. First published in Washington County News (Abingdon, VA), 12 January 2005, p. A4. WCN is a publication of Media General Operations. Copyright 2005.
posted by Felicia Mitchell | 9:39 AM
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