THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701220115
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH
SOURCE: IDA KAY JORDAN
LENGTH: 57 lines
The first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration and Recognition Dinner on the Portsmouth campus of Tidewater Community College gave its Martin Luther King Award to Junius Williams, last year's First Citizen.
Good choice!
Williams is the sort of guy who tries to do what's best for the community and seldom acts in terms of black or white. In 1997, his approach to living in the real world is very necessary if we're ever going to achieve the goals of Martin Luther King Jr.
As I sat listening to Norfolk State University Prof. Cassandra Newby recount the history of King's life, and George Eason recite his words, my mind kept wandering back to the 1950s and 1960s. Although many people like to put down the '50s as a time of self-satisfaction for Americans, I didn't see those years that way. Nor did many of my friends.
Way back then, Martin Luther King Jr. was on the road talking, spreading his message of non-violent resistance. There were many groups of people across the South who were working on civil rights issues. These people were aiming at truly integrating the nation, most especially the South, by getting people together to talk and to know each other as equals. It was happening all over.
But it didn't last long.
Violence erupted across the nation, much to the dismay of the groups I knew in North Carolina. We saw pictures of, but didn't want to believe, the dogs and the fire hoses in places like Alabama. But there seemed no way to contain the violence once it started.
The violence escalated to a different level. The assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and of King stunned the nation - and changed it.
I don't believe this nation has ever been able to get past the violence. Somehow, it became a way of life for many people.
And the assassinations of the Kennedys and King put a rift in race relations that we have not begun to heal. Yet all thinking people, black and white, know the nation cannot function in the best interest of everybody until we get past racism.
Although the differences between blacks and whites make the news, many people still work to overcome race as an issue in this country. Junius Williams certainly is one of them.
In working toward the true integration of all people, Williams is not denying his heritage. Rather, he is honoring his ancestors by taking his rightful place in the world. He works on projects he believes will serve the total community.
Over the past 30 years, despite the legal desegregation of our country, there has been a trend toward social segregation of blacks and whites. That separatist trend has been fostered, I think, by people who seek power, not those who seek to make this country a better place.
I believe programs to honor Martin Luther King should be aimed at improving the lot of everybody in this country because basically that is what King was all about. By choosing Williams for its first award, TCC-Portsmouth took a step in that direction.