Young people's role in civil rights movement discussed

The civil rights movement was populated by more than just legendary figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It included children of the era who became symbols that inspired others to get involved, Dr. Wilma King said during Thursday night's Dugger Lecture.

About 120 people attended the lecture, held in one of the University Center ballrooms at Southeast Missouri State University. The presentation, scheduled to last one hour, was cut short after 40 minutes by a tornado warning when attendees were directed to the Center for Student Involvement on a lower floor. The speech did not resume.

King is the Strickland Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She also leads the Black Studies Department, said Dr. Wayne Bowen, chairman of Southeast's history department.

Bowen said King's comments were particularly appropriate because this year is the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the first major legislative victory of the civil rights movement, enacted in the aftermath of the 1963 March on Washington, Bowen said.

In the midst of the Civil War of the 1860s, King said, there was an old gentleman who told a bystander he was very old, but "the little ones, the little ones, they'll see it yet" -- alluding to freedom for black Americans.

"The old gentleman was shaking and trembling with the spirit of freedom as he watched Union soldiers ... before going into battle in 1862," King said. "The gentleman had grown old in bondage, but he was now witnessing the destruction of slavery. It was falling apart around him. A century later, Martin Luther King Jr. tied his hopes for a better world to the younger generation and dreamed of [a] day when children, even his own, would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

"In each case," King said, "adults made wishful projections for their children's futures, and it is appropriate to ask more specifically what were these children to see and what roles were they to play in bringing their elders' dreams and predictions to fruition?"

King offered several examples where children became central figures in the struggle. She touched on the murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955, the 1963 murder of four girls during the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., and the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine African-American students involved in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas website.

King said the Little Rock Nine were told if someone insulted them or threw something at them, for example, they could not fight back or risk being expelled from school.

Minnijean Brown was one who fought back by pouring a bowl of chili over the head of a boy who was being hostile to her at lunch. King said Brown was ashamed it caused her to be expelled, but when Brown tells the story to junior high students, they think it's the coolest thing.

Ruby Bridges attended William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. Having grown up there, King said, Bridges was used to having things thrown at her during Mardi Gras. But what disturbed her was a woman who had a black doll in a box that resembled a coffin.

King said Bridges' mother would tell her to say her prayers at night so she could sleep. One day she forgot to say her prayers and said them outside school one day, asking God to forgive those who were hostile to her.

Morris Jenkins, dean of health and human services at Southeast, was among those attending Thursday night.

"I like history, especially the history of civil rights. I used to be a lawyer, so I'm interested in the history of it," Jenkins said. He added he thought King's presentation humanized the civil rights situation.

"I was interested to see the role of young people," Jenkins said.

This was the 25th annual Dugger Lecture, established by the history department in 1989 to honor Harold Holmes Dugger, who was professor of diplomatic and intellectual history and former department chairman. His daughter, Ellen, was on hand Thursday night, Bowen said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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