A Historic Moment

Celebrating Martin Luther King Day, the Civil Rights Movement and the Inauguration of President Barack Obama

The School marked the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the inauguration of Barack Obama with two all school assemblies. On Friday, January 16, the students participated in a multi-media story of the Civil Rights Movement that presaged the election of the first African-American president. On the following Tuesday morning, January 20, the students again gathered in the gym to view the oath of office live from our nation’s capital on a big projection TV.

The narration of the Civil Rights Movement at the MLK assembly emphasized four themes: 1) an inspiring story of resistance, struggle, and achievement of freedom and civil rights, 2) a commitment to non-violent resistance and struggle despite many provocations, frustrations, setbacks, violence, and tragic deaths, 3) participation by thousands of ordinary, humble and courageous people, blacks and whites, over many years, and 4) a story that is emblematic of the struggle that all people, all ethnic groups, and all minorities in a majority culture must go through, a story that resonates with all of us.

As I began telling the story, I asked the students to consider what was being asked of them today. I challenged them to see this holiday as more than a simple remembrance of past events no longer relevant to their lives. I emphasized that were it not for what others did before us, were it not for their courage and humanity, none of us would be here today enjoying the fellowship of the community of SFDS.

I prodded them to see themselves back in Montgomery, Memphis, or Birmingham. I hoped they would imagine how they would have felt, what they would have done, were they back at that moment in time. As the story telling progressed I repeated over and over again the question, “What would you have done?” “Would you have done what your grandmothers and grandfathers did?”

“Would you have walked to work and back again day after day for over a year during the Montgomery bus boycott? Would you have remained disciplined, respectful, and non-violent at the lunch counters despite outrageous insults and physical provocations? Would you have walked the gauntlet at Little Rock to claim the education that was rightfully yours?”

In between the story telling, the students saw video segments and we sang together. The sixth grade acted out the lunch counter sit-ins and the Little Rock Nine being escorted by the National Guard into Central High School. We concluded with a slide show that showed images of SNCC, Cesar Chavez, Bobby Kennedy, the Women’s Movement, Betty Freidan and Gloria Steinem, the American Indian Movement, Irish Need Not Apply, Gandhi, Harvey Milk, and the Fight for Immigration Rights. The final slide was Barack Obama. The story of the Civil Rights Movement is a not just a story about African-Americans, it is a story about all of us.

On Tuesday, Inauguration Day, the gym was decorated and a festive energy buzzed as the students filled the seats. As the events built to a crescendo the students cheered and cheered. They stood respectfully in their seats for the oath and the singing of “America the Beautiful.” Before they returned to their classrooms I reminded them of their obligation; the work of the Civil Rights Movement was not done. To honor the effort and humanity of their grandmothers and grandfathers, they were obligated to build a more inclusive community here at SFDS.

Teaching children about the injustices of the past is difficult and complex. There is the dilemma of superficiality (Dr. King was such a great hero and he loved peace.) versus a recitation of the violence, hardship, and second-class citizenship of the Jim Crow era. A vivid focus on the hardships of the past can actually cause children to worry about them today and take them very personally. For both those children who identify with the victims of the past and those who do not, the feelings of difference and pain can be disturbing. For young children who do not have a mature understanding of time and the concept of the past and who are very impressionable, a focus on past hardships is particularly complicated.

For these reasons, the retelling of the Civil Rights Movement did not show any vivid images of the harsh treatment the protestors received. In every anecdote, I described the courage and integrity of the ordinary people who participated and the glorious success they achieved. I hope children will learn that, yes, too often in our history we have excluded others from full citizenship, but just as often, through perseverance and common efforts, real progress has been made. I believe our children can learn that they too can confront injustice and make a difference towards more inclusion and more participation in the benefits our democracy has to offer its citizens.