I grew up in the heart of Dixie, Atlanta, Georgia.  I was raised by a wonderful, loving Christian family.  They were a product of their times, just as I am.  They and I have spent the rest of our lives doing the best that we can with what we have.  That includes attitudes and prejudices which we have.  One of those is racial prejudice.  I remember as a little boy hearing my paternal grandfather use the n-word referring to black Americans.  I remember my father using it, also.  I didn't know any different as a youngster.  I never went to school with black children--until college.  There were never  black members in our churches.  You can imagine what I was told about Martin Luther King. 

 

One day I was standing out in front of my school, Decatur High School, and I noticed a crowd gathered in front of the courthouse nextdoor.  Martin Luther King was being arraigned there, and the media were all present.  I remember what my family and friends said about him.  Basically, they said that he was a great trouble maker.  I never questioned that until I left home and went away to college.  I will always be grateful to Stetson University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for educating me.  That was not the easiest thing to do especially when my mind was made up about so many things, including race.  A serious study of the Bible, really for the first time, revealed to me how wrong I was to be prejudiced against anyone.  My opinion of, understanding of, and appreciation for Martin Luther King became positive.  I learned that many of the criticisms of him were just outright lies fomented by people who hated him.  I learned that J. Edgar Hoover both hated and feared him and kept a large file on him as a "troublemaker."

 

Now as I am a good deal older, I can stand back and admire from a distance what King did.  It truly is remarkable what he accomplished in his life.  He was a "breakthrough person" without whom America would be much poorer in human relations and in other ways as well today.  I see something else as I stand back.  I see that many black folk really never knew him or what he stood for.  He was a scholar, a solid Christian, and a man of courage and conviction.  Yes, he had his flaws and faults, but mostly he tried to do and to lead America to do what was right.  If black folk, especially young ones who know only what history teaches about Dr. King, could know what kind of man he really was, then they would want to be the same kind of man.  I know many African American men today who are that kind of man.  I am proud to know them.  They bless my life, and they allow me to bless their lives.

 

I suppose that being a little afraid of those who are different from us is endemic to the human species.  Dr. King's legacy could and should remind us and push us to overcome our fears of people who are different and celebrate the differences.  These can make us stronger, more knowledgeable, and richer people.  Today I feel that I am a better man because of black friends who have forced me to be honest with them and with myself.  I have learned not to run when my community changed and changes.  Instead, I have stayed and plan to stay and be the very best neighbor I can be to my new neighbors and friends.  What about you?