By Steve Walker
With numerous days now behind us the untimely death of George Floyd from choking to death due to 4 Minneapolis police officers choking him to death, thousands of Americans of all colors have been protesting in numerous states in response. It is safe to assume at some level we have come this far one too many times. It is also assumed we still have to complete the journey of truly becoming a melting pot of all cultures and, races. History reminds us of the 1954 Brown v Board of Education landmark Supreme Court decision that declared state laws establishing separate public school for black and white students unconstitutional.
In most places at that time it included Hispanic students as well. I was eight years old at the time. As a former teacher who also taught a History class or two over the years, I covered some of those statistics and information in the classroom. The triumph paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement at the time.
Now we have another opportunity to make greater strides for unity. As a person who has seen major changes in my life time from segregation to the turmoil of the sixties to the eventual national Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday that was signed into law in 1983, I am still amazed at our progress. I remember when President Ronald Reagan actually signed it, and it was first observed three years later. I would point out that at first; some states resisted observing the holiday.
Back in 1964 the year I graduated high school in June, the Congress passed the Civil rights Act of 1964 on July 2nd that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public known as “public accommodations.”
That same day President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Law at the White House. In fact I still remember watching the President live on our small Black and White TV, doing so. The year before President Johnson signed that legislation, I also watched the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a Dream” speech on live TV, in the summer of 1963, August 28th.Who could forget the Dr. King’s assassination in Memphis Tennessee, April 4th, 1968?
I was in my senior year when Dr. King was shot. The summer after I graduated college just before I joined the Army I took a Black History class at Southern Methodist University. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public known as “public accommodations.”
That same day President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law at the White House. In fact I still remember watching the President live on our small Black and White TV, doing so. The year before the President signed that legislation, I also watched the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a Dream” speech on live TV, in the summer of 1963, August 28th. What about Dr. King’s assassination in Memphis Tennessee, April 4th, 1968?
I was in my sophomore year in Texas Wesleyan College in Fort Worth when Malcolm X was shot and my senior year when Dr. King was assassinated. The summer after I graduated college just before I joined the Army I took a Black History class at Southern Methodist University in Dallas to learn about the contributions of Black Americans over the years.
I was shocked to discover what some of them contributed to our country over the years. I had heard of many of their contributions but no one pointed out that they were Black Americans! Did you as the reader know for example that it was Charles R. Drew a black surgeon who pioneered techniques for preserving blood plasma that saved countless lives during World War II?
Later he became medical director of Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington. In his research he discovered that pure plasma could be used for blood transfusions. Who knew? I didn’t until I took that class so many years ago. We are reminded that people of every color or race are still a part of the American dream to be all that we can be and add to the fabric of this country.
As always, I write “Just a Thought.”
Steve Walker is a Vietnam Veteran, former Journalist and Justice of the Peace
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