Greg Freeman: We All Can Honor King By Living His Message Every Day. StL P-D 1/16/2001

Headline: WE ALL CAN HONOR KING BY LIVING HIS MESSAGE EVERY DAY
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tue., Jan. 16, 2001
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

"We Shall Overcome"
   Every year, my neighborhood hosts a Martin Luther King program to celebrate the works and ideals of the civil rights leader. A tradition, at the end of this program sponsored by the Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council, is for everyone in the audience to hold hands and sing "We Shall Overcome."
   It was a song of determination during the civil rights era. Those involved in fighting for civil rights -- blacks, whites and others -- used the song as a rallying cry, a hallmark of the nonviolent movement.
   So it seems appropriate to sing it each year as we honor King.

After this year's program, however, a woman who attended stopped me and suggested that the song be dropped -- or changed.
"'We shall overcome someday' seems so far, so distant, like something that will never come, " she said. "How about 'We have overcome, ' or 'We are overcoming'?"

Although I doubt we'll see the song changed, her point was a good one. The fact is, in many ways, we have overcome.
Not completely. There are still hurdles that need to be jumped, barriers that need to be broken.

But America has changed tremendously since 1961, when the civil rights movement was in full swing.
   The opportunities available today for African-Americans are greater than at any other time in the nation's history. A record number of blacks hold seats in Congress. African-Americans are mayors of major cities, including St. Louis. Blacks are at the helm of many of our nation's police departments, something that would have been unheard of in the day of Birmingham, Ala., Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor.
   Black Enterprise magazine each month is filled with success stories of African-American entrepreneurs who have become the very picture of the American dream.
   It's no longer OK to be openly racist; those who are often find themselves shunned by society.
   It's quite likely that more people today have friendships with people of a different race than in 1961.

Despite the many achievements, however, problems remain.
Very few blacks are at the very top of their companies unless they started the companies themselves. Problems such as racial profiling continue to plague innocent people. Racism still exists, though it tends to be more covert than overt. And when it comes to the St. Louis area, most of us live in neighborhoods where there are no people of other races.
So while many matters have gotten better, some still need attention.

I wonder how many of us are actually doing anything about the problems. Monday was the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To honor King, students studied his life, St. Louisans participated in a variety of King Day celebrations, and lots of people sang "We Shall Overcome."

But what are all those people doing the day after King Day?
   Are they continuing to press for social justice?
   Are they still willing to hold hands with people of other races, not just literally but figuratively?
   Are they speaking up when someone tells a racist joke or says something ill-spirited about an entire group of people?
   Are they able to overcome the notion that all -- fill in the blank with any racial group here -- are just alike?
King surely would have been pleased if most people could say 'yes' to the above questions. Chances are, though, most of us can't honestly say that.

Perhaps, then, that's the best possible way to honor King, not by attending rallies, not by marching in parades, not even by singing "We Shall Overcome, " but by taking King's message to heart and attempting to live it every day.
When we do that, we'll come closer than we ever have to being able to sing of how we have overcome.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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