General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Martin Luther King Jr. Was a Radical, Not a Saint [View all]juajen
(8,515 posts)Note: I am of the generation with first hand knowledge of the times in which Dr. King lived. I saw him and his followers march. I lived in what is now called a red state. Some would call it Hell. The prejudice was way too deep. He was a catalyst for sure, but his assassination was inevitable.
We were ruled by hateful men who believed all their women were inferior, not to mention those men and women of another color. We had so much growing up to do, and the fights and violence against minorities was intense. Today, what we went through is just not imaginable. We have become so used to women's rights and civil rights, generally, that we have a sugar-coated view of the early struggles.
Indeed, even now, the remnants of that time, to those who lived it, make us afraid for our shiny Barack and family, at least, we progressives. The gun nuts of today were the KKK of yesterday; so, those of us who experienced those times fear for the life of our First Family and the people that support them.
Bullies are with us as much today as they were then, evidenced by gerrymandering, so-called gun rights activists, voter suppression, destruction of abortion clinics and clinicians, etc. It appears the work is never done; and, the younger generations need to be prepared to fight to preserve what we accomplished in the past. I am in my seventies. We are tired.