Thursday April 4th, 1968
Page 5
“Deal,” says Moses, and the two men shake hands.
The game has reached half-time, so Moses asks his grandfather what he thinks about Dr. King’s assassination.
“Pops. What do you think about what happened to Dr. King?” asks Moses.
“I think it’s horrible. How these white men think that they can kill a Black man whenever they want is horrible,” replies Pops.
“I mean, you saw the Movement from the beginning, right?” asks Moses.
“Yep. I remember when they started the bus boycott in Montgomery back in ‘55. A lot of people didn’t think it was going to work, but then they got Dr. King to come on as one of the leaders, and people got more confident. It took a year, but it worked. Dr. King was a smart man. He understood how to get people to move, and that made him a real threat to white folks. I am actually surprised he hadn’t been killed before now. There are some bad, sick people out there.”
“Well someone tried to stab him one time, right?” asks Moses.
“Yep, that’s right. And they probably can’t count all of the death threats he got,” replies Pops. “The man was just trying to give Black folk equal opportunity. He wasn’t trying to take anything away from white folk. He just wanted them to stop getting in the way.”
Moses segues into a discussion about the track meet.
“So, you know they’re having the city championship track meet on Tuesday?” asks Moses.
“Yes, yes. I know you’ve been looking forward to this day for a whole year,” replies Pops.
“A whole year. I can’t believe it,” says Moses. “But some members on the team are not going to run. And you heard Reverend Roberts say some schools are not going to participate. What do you think about that?”
“Well, I think it’s messed up thinking. How is boycotting a track meet going to make a difference?” replies Pops.
“But my friends think that it’s disrespectful to run on the day that they have Dr. King’s funeral.”
“Disrespectful?” exclaims Pops. “Please. Do you think Dr. King would care if you ran a race or not?”
“I don’t know”, replies Moses. “I mean would he think it would be disrespectful?”
“Why?” replies Pops. “Dr. King would be thrilled that you get the opportunity to pursue your own dream. Do you understand that there was a time where you would not have been able to go to Central? And now with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, Black folk have more opportunities than ever before.”
“So, you’re saying that by running in the championship, I’m actually honoring Dr. King, because I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to pursue my own dream?” asks Moses.
“You’re a pretty smart young man,” replies Pops. “Must get it from your mother.”
Moses smiles at the joke.
“Look,” says Pops. “Next month you’ll be eighteen. That means you’ll be old enough to do a lot of things including go to that war over there in Viet Nam. You will be a man and will have to make your own decisions. Your mother and father won’t be responsible anymore, it’s all going to be on you. You can listen to other folks, and take their advice if you want, but ultimately it always is going to come down to you”.
“I understand, Pops,” replies Moses.
Pops continues, “You are a member of a group that always has, and always will have the hardest struggle in this country. You are a young Black man in America. Black men don’t get a break here, and young Black men have it twice as hard.”
Pops pauses for a minute as if to give Moses a chance to let the message sink in.
“You’re a track man, so I know you’ve studied Jesse Owens, right?” asks Pops.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” responds Moses. “The greatest sprinter ever.”
“Right,” agrees Pops. “An American hero in the ’36 Olympics over there in Germany.”
“But they did him wrong when he got back to the states,” replies Moses.
“No respect, no opportunity,” responds Pops.
“He didn’t even get an invite to the White House,” offers Moses.
“So, you see what I mean when I say Black men aren’t given a fair shake in this country?” responds Pop.
Moses nods in agreement to what Pops has said. The two turn their attention back to the game, but the conversation has Moses pondering a lot of things. He still has some questions for his straight-talking grandfather. At the next timeout, Moses quizzes Pops some more.
“A lot of the kids at school are scared that things are going to get worse for Blacks now that Dr. King is dead,” states Moses. “You think that’s true Pops?”
“Well, I don’t think things are going to get worse for Black folks, but it’s just going to take more effort to get where we want to go, replies Pops. Dr. King blazed the trail for equal opportunity for Black folks, so it’s up to us to stay on that path. Don’t get me wrong, white folks ain’t going to make it easy. There will be those who want to intimidate us. Scare us. Deny us. But if we remain faithful, we will make it.”
Pops continues the lecture, “Your generation is going to be the ones who will have the best opportunity to make a difference in this country. As y’all get into positions of power, y’all will be able to make decisions that make sense for everyone. Y’all will have the most opportunities for a good education. Y’all will have the most opportunities for good careers. And y’all will have the best opportunities to buy a house wherever you want to. So y’all are going to have to work. This is not the time to be afraid.”
“Do you think Dr. King could have been president?” asks Moses.
“Nope,” is Pops quick and blunt reply. “White folks ain’t ready. They would have done everything they could to stop him. I don’t know that America will ever be ready for a Black president. Maybe forty or fifty years from now it might happen.”
The game is back on. The Celtics are, indeed, beating the 76ers, and Moses has run out of questions.
Chapter 10
Tuesday, April 9th
It is about 4:30 pm on Tuesday, April 9th. The city championship track meet has been in progress since 3:00 pm. Weather conditions are good for record performances: a temperature of about sixty degrees, partly sunny skies, and little to no wind. The championship meet is being held at Scott Field, the largest stadium in Harriston. The city track championship is always standing-room-only, but today, Scott Field is only about three-quarters full. No doubt many have chosen to remain at home to watch events surrounding Dr. King’s funeral. And with two schools deciding not to participate, this year’s city championship has taken on a different vibe. People aren’t necessarily sad, but there just doesn’t seem to be the normal level of enthusiasm. At the beginning of the meet, the mayor said a few words about Dr. King, and there was a moment of silence. The crowd tried to get into the competition after that, but ninety minutes later, it is clear that a funk still hangs over the meet.
At Central High School today, there was little enthusiasm for the track meet. Many students chose to not to attend school today. Those that were there seemed disinterested in academic matters, let alone, a track meet. Yes, Central had a good chance to win the championship, but that just didn’t seem to matter that much today. No pep rally, no good luck signs on the hallway walls, no crazy skits by the teachers. It was just another school day, but it wasn’t.
Moses attempted to remain as focused as he could, but it was difficult. Diane did not come to school today, so his normal support system was gone, and there was some tension between the athletes who chose to participate in the meet, and those who chose not to. Someone with less fortitude would not be able to handle the stress, but Moses was determined to remain focused on his dream.
It is now time for the 100-yard dash finals. Because there are only five runners, this race will be the final heat. The winner will be the city champ. All of the runners approach the starting line and prepare to run. Although two schools did not send a team, the two big schools, South Side and North Side
did send their team. In lane one is the runner from South Side. Next to him is the runner from Carver in lane two. In lane three is Moses. He has made the decision to run this last race. No more questions. No more concerns. The time to perform is at hand.
As Moses goes through his warm-up routine, there is very little chatter from the crowd. While he normally tunes out all of that noise anyway, on this day, Moses is eerily aware of its absence.
Suddenly a familiar voice pierces the air.
“Good luck Moses!”
Moses looks in the stands and sees his baby sister, Janet with Moses’ mother and father.
“I hope you win,” says Janet, waving her hand wildly.
When Moses left for school this morning, it wasn’t clear whether his family would attend the track meet. His father did the fatherly thing and wished Moses luck; but gave no indication that he and the family would attend the track meet, and Moses didn’t ask. He didn’t need the disappointment if the answer was “no”.
Moses had avoided looking into the stands before his family arrived, but now he was forced to scan the crowd. There were a few Central High students in the stands, but none of the regulars. No Margaret. No Linda. No Diane. Moses acknowledged his family, then continued to warm up.
“Runners to your mark,” instructs the PA announcer.
Moses and the other runners take their places in the running blocks. At this moment there is a complete synergy between mind, body, and spirit. This is it for Moses. Now is the time to achieve his dream.
“Set...”
The gun goes off, and the runners burst out of the blocks. After the first ten steps, the race is over. Moses is so far ahead of the field; the outcome is never in doubt. Moses crosses the finish line a full second ahead of the runner from Carver and sets a new city record in the process. On this day, in the city of Harriston, Moses Derrick is the City Champion in the 100-yard dash. If there were cheers and adulation, it didn’t matter. The dream had been achieved.
Epilogue
The story is fiction, but the lesson is real. Fifty years ago, on April 4th, 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, the world was devastated. A man of God, a warrior for civil rights, a promotor of peace, had his life extinguished by a bullet as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
Black folk were sad. Black folk were angry. And as Moses says, Black folk were scared. If white folk were willing to kill the King, what chance did the average Black person; who only sought equal opportunity in this country, what chance would they have for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness?
Many would say that the conflict Moses had was not a big deal. It was a high school track meet. How important could that be? And that is the point, each person’s dream is important to that person. Your dream is your dream, and no one else’s. Not everyone bought into the dream that Dr. King always spoke of, but the dream was important to him.
The successes that Black America has experienced during the last fifty years are all based in someone’s decision to follow their dream. The first Blacks that became astronauts all started their journey with a dream. Every successful Black performer, athlete, or entertainer began their journey with a dream. Every mother and father who invests in their children’s higher education do so because of a dream. The man who would become the first Black president of the United States started that journey with a dream.
On the day that Dr. King died, he was preparing a protest march for sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Those workers had dreams of fair wages; dreams of fair housing; dreams of equal opportunity. The march still took place four days later lead by Dr. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, the SCLC, and union leaders. Tens of thousands silently marched through the streets of Memphis, many of the Black men carrying signs that read, “I Am a Man”. They had hitched their dreams to Dr. King’s dream and chose not to let an assassin’s bullet keep them from doing what was necessary.
For Moses, winning the City Championship in the 100-yard dash was a dream that he had long cultivated. How could he let an evil deed prevent him from pursuing it, especially when it was within reach? For Moses, pursuing his dream meant absorbing the disappointment of his friends. It meant risking the disapproval of his father. It meant losing the support of the young woman he loved.
The lesson to be learned is that pursuing your dream often requires difficult decisions. It often requires sacrifice. Others will not always understand the decisions you make, nor the sacrifices you endure. What is hoped is that by pursuing and achieving your dreams, you become a light that encourages others to pursue their own.
We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.
Jesse Owens