BUCKING THE SYSTEM: DR. KING'S BIRTHDAY NOT JUST A BLACK CELEBRATION

Many Americans will commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday in a couple of weeks. Notice I didn't say black Americans will be celebrating his birthday, or white Americans or any other ethnic delineation. I said Americans because Dr. King's birthday is a national day set aside to honor a national hero, even if some states haven't seen fit to recognize it yet.

I celebrated Brother Martin's day before its national recognition. For a number of years I would get out the paper, pens and reference materials around this time and make patches for people to pin to their lapels. I'd put Black Pride slogans and happy birthday messages on the patches, and after arriving at school, I'd pass them out to as many black students as possible.

I was very selfish with my knowledge about Brother Martin and my own small celebration on his behalf. I never offered my pins to white students, nor did I try to explain to them why this day was important to me. You know the old saying: It was a black thing, they wouldn't understand.

"Pin this on and wear it all day to show your pride; this is our day," I'd tell my black classmates. They'd do it, and the day would go by with only a couple of snide comments and the occasional eyebrow from a teacher. I know now I had a problem with prejudice when I was younger. I looked for (and found) racial bias around every corner, and I did everything I could to make people -- specifically, white people in my hometown -- as uncomfortable about their history as I could.

All other ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations were OK in my book. It was the white people I was after. I was very ignorant.

You see, although I had read a lot of books and thought I knew everything there was to know about American history, and although I was good at making white people uncomfortable when I decided to pull the race card, I really had no idea what Dr. King was trying to teach people.

The primary thought in my mind whenever I came into contact with whites was that WE had been treated bad, and THEY needed to pay. If I had focused more on Dr. King's teachings, I would have concentrated less on separatism and statements and more on unity and change.

I realized how much I had actually grown last week when I shared e-mail and several phone calls with a co-worker and her friend. I'm researching several good stories right now in preparation for Black History Month and I needed some help.

Guess who's helping me? Two white women who probably know more about regional black history than any five blacks in the area. Where I once would have missed out because I would have hoarded my knowledge or assumed a white person didn't know or want to know, I'm now sharing and learning in the process.

I've come a long way. I'm glad.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

~Tamara Zellars Buck is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.