Spring Break
Group Discusses Unfinished Civil Rights Issues
Heather Murdock
Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: News
Terrorism, church bombings, sexual assaults, hospitals that refused black patients and housing and job discrimination were far more immediate concerns at the time, he said. "The message of King is more powerful when you consider that they were up against such violent forces."
When King became a figurehead in the struggle against discrimination, according to Ogbar, he also did not believe in the peaceful resistance that is the cornerstone of his legacy.
"When King became the leader of this movement, terrorists bombed his house. One of the first things Dr. King did was go out and get a gun - he didn't pray."
King later led massive non-violent demonstrations, and despite the continued violence he preached, "love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."
"Globally, when you think about how people who are oppressed respond to violence with violence," Ogbar said, "you see how exceptional this is."
Todd Esson, a 7th-semester urban and community studies major said he was surprised, but the story made sense. "It's a normal human reaction if you are attacked."
King remains the "most influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement," according to Taylor. As a person, however, his memory has also been distorted by history. "At the time of Dr. King's death, we forget that he was hanging by a thread - that his moral authority had frayed."
King faced opposition from whites resistant to change, militant blacks and the liberal establishment because of his opposition to the Vietnam War, Taylor said. We forget "King the radical, the disappointed prophet who spoke toward the end of his life of America as a nightmare, who referred to the United States as the 'greatest purveyor of violence in the world,'" he said. "That King has been replaced by a more sanitized version of the man."
Adam Nemeroff, a 2nd-semester history major, however, was not put off by the Taylor's grittier version of King. "I think that we face, as a nation, so many different issues at this time … individuals may find a sense of hope and optimism revisiting his ideas."
Contact Heather Murdock at
Heather.Murdock@UConn.edu.
When King became a figurehead in the struggle against discrimination, according to Ogbar, he also did not believe in the peaceful resistance that is the cornerstone of his legacy.
"When King became the leader of this movement, terrorists bombed his house. One of the first things Dr. King did was go out and get a gun - he didn't pray."
King later led massive non-violent demonstrations, and despite the continued violence he preached, "love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."
"Globally, when you think about how people who are oppressed respond to violence with violence," Ogbar said, "you see how exceptional this is."
Todd Esson, a 7th-semester urban and community studies major said he was surprised, but the story made sense. "It's a normal human reaction if you are attacked."
King remains the "most influential leader of the Civil Rights Movement," according to Taylor. As a person, however, his memory has also been distorted by history. "At the time of Dr. King's death, we forget that he was hanging by a thread - that his moral authority had frayed."
King faced opposition from whites resistant to change, militant blacks and the liberal establishment because of his opposition to the Vietnam War, Taylor said. We forget "King the radical, the disappointed prophet who spoke toward the end of his life of America as a nightmare, who referred to the United States as the 'greatest purveyor of violence in the world,'" he said. "That King has been replaced by a more sanitized version of the man."
Adam Nemeroff, a 2nd-semester history major, however, was not put off by the Taylor's grittier version of King. "I think that we face, as a nation, so many different issues at this time … individuals may find a sense of hope and optimism revisiting his ideas."
Contact Heather Murdock at
Heather.Murdock@UConn.edu.
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