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- January 21, 2008
Do Children Understand the Significance of MLK Jr.?
Last year, I volunteered to work on the holiday commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (it was a company holiday). I covered a couple of parades in his honor on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton, SC, for the newspaper I was working for. I wanted to take a different approach to the story that no doubt had been written year after year, so I asked marchers why they decided to participate in the parade rather than stay at home. The adults I interviewed all had good answers, explaining it’s important to remember and highlight the fight for civil rights our nation endured only four decades earlier. Some of the children, however, seemed to treat the parade as a roller rink, skating down the road in those Heelys shoes that were oh so popular then:
While adults walked briskly in marches Monday on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton to commemorate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., some children skated past them in gym shoes equipped with plastic wheels.
For the children and young adults at Monday’s marches, the civil rights movement is something they’ve only read about in history books. So it might seem fitting that some youngsters seemed more concerned about losing their balance on the heels of their trendy skate shoes, then about the struggle that allowed them to play together, regardless of race.
“I think they have a clue about the purpose,” of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, said Bluffton resident Gwenita Jenkins, whose 7-year-old niece skated through downtown Bluffton with a life-size cutout of King’s photograph tied around her neck. “But the unfortunate part is they have what they want already, so they don’t know what it’s like not to have.”
As society becomes further removed from the days when Jim Crow signs hung over drinking fountains and blacks were directed to the back of the bus, it becomes more challenging to make children appreciate the struggle for civil rights.
So as our nation celebrates the birth of the civil rights leader today, I wonder whether you think children appreciate the significance of the day.
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9 Responses to “Do Children Understand the Significance of MLK Jr.?”
I doubt it … but I also don’t think they understand the significance of Easter (beyond chocolate and bunnies), Hallowe’en (beyond costumes and candy), Labor Day (beyond long car trips and watching mom and dad get drunk at the cottage), Thanksgiving (beyond turkey and watching mom and dad get drunk in the dining room), and Veterans Day (Remembrance Day in my native Canada).
By absent.canadian\ on Jan 21, 2008
Today I witnessed children understanding the signifigance at the MLK United Way signature project at Knightdale Highschool. They were painting an inspiring mural in their cafeteria that display Mr.King’s message for peace. The students spoke of what the day met and what Mr.King has done for them. It was quite motivational.
By mbalbo on Jan 21, 2008
I have greater respect and honor for Rosa Parks - not for MLK.
Unfortunately there will be many children trapped in failed government public schools that Democrats have told them to attend instead of greater choices and opportunity for a better education in private schools like Republicans try and provide.
By JustaDog on Jan 21, 2008
Justadog: give it a break. Understanding freedom and respecting the brave Americans who have fought for liberties and freedoms isn’t about partisan politics. It sickens me when people of any political stripe make dogmatic statements like these - and as much as I dislike the current iteration of republicanism we see represented in American politics today, this sort of nonsense isn’t doing anyone a favor.
By absent.canadian on Jan 21, 2008
It sickens me when liberals use and abuse a race to achieve their sick goals. It has everything to do with politics since politicians call the shots - and liberal politicians have abused blacks long enough.
I suggest you, as a Canadian, clean your own house before trying to preach to a country that enjoys much lower taxes, choices in health care, and freedom of the press that your country does not have.
By JustaDog on Jan 21, 2008
I doubt American history classes even make it to the 1960s or that younger kids get much more than the “I Have A Dream” speech.
And most adults certainly don’t appreciate the significance of the day, of Dr. King’s life, of the civil rights movement, and, perhaps most importantly, how the legacy of slavery and racism still shape our politics and government policy today.
I doubt the gentleman knocking the Canadian healthcare system has any clue that the U.S. came close to adopting universal healthcare way back in 1948 or in the early seventies under Nixon, both times with strong public and bi-partisan support, and the main reason we didn’t is because the South didn’t want integrated hospitals. The main reason any welfare program (which shouldn’t be such a bad word; it’s about helping those less fortunate) is either attacked, decimated, or never enacted is because of the underlying racism that continues to exist. No one will admit this, of course.
By Toastie on Jan 21, 2008
Yes, my son internalized quite a few things this year about MLK. They talked about it a lot at school, and he had questions about him for me. His takeaway was not that MLK was a civil rights leader–nobody used that wording–but that he was a good and kind person. And, at his age, that’s what I’m happy for him to know.
By Valerie on Jan 23, 2008
Valerie, that sounds like a good answer for a young one. When I was at Mayor Bell’s state of the city address yesterday, he concluded the speech by bringing up MLK, and as soon as he said his name, a little girl sitting behind me on her mother’s lap cheered out loud. That’s encouraging. I’m sure children are learning about MLK and the civil rights movement in school, but I guess I wonder whether they truly grasp how recently it was that our country was facing such inequalities and how it took a vocal, active group of citizens to change that.
By Ginny on Jan 24, 2008
It’s okay for little kids to not know that yet. When they’re 9, 10, 11 years old, they’ll start being more socially-minded (that’s the age kids start Save the Environment, Save the Whales, Save the Dogs… clubs) and can digest ideas like this more easily. There have been several articles around recently about how kids can feel hopeless about things, like the environment, if the focus is on the sad state of it, and that it is better just to teach little kids to love trees and being outside, and let the social action develop naturally. So cheer on, little ones!
By Valerie on Jan 24, 2008