Week Four

This past weekend the interns ventured to Memphis, Tennessee and the National Civil Rights Museum. Built into the Lorraine Motel, the museum is a powerful tribute to the past, and continuing, civil rights movement, dominated by the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The museum contained three parts: a tribute to the entire civil rights movement in American history, a tribute to Dr. King, and a confrontation with and discussion of his death. This was all preceded by a short film featuring Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, the man standing next to Dr. King just before the assassination.

           In the film, Kyles grapples with his role as the "witness," coming to the conclusion that his presence was necessary (by God's will) to preserve Dr. King's story and ensure the continuing fight for his dream. The film is well-done, addressing both the significance and causes of Dr. King's death while also considering the legacy. 

Room 306 





          

          Of the museum's many features, the one I found most interesting, and exciting, was the glimpse into Dr. King's personal life. Basic historical representations and national celebrations reconstruct him into an infallible man immune to the struggles of everyday life. But that is misleading. If we are to bestow perfection on anyone, Dr. King is as deserving as any, but I would argue that that does his accomplishments an injustice. For, Dr. King was vulnerable to the same emotions and guilty of personal vices just as we all are, yet was still able to overcome the constant death threats, periodic depression and crushing pressure. This constant struggle, which wore on him constantly, is reflected in many of his speeches, none more so than the famous mountaintop speech the night before he died. This devotion and unfailing determination, as much as anything, is indicative of how far we have come, and have yet to go. In his book April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Death and How it Changed America, Georgetown Sociology Professor Michael Eric Dyson confronts this issue, saying: “Whites want him clawless; blacks want him flawless” (pg. 56). In both cases, we forget the struggle that allowed his successes. We forget that before dying an icon, he was just a man swimming against the current. This mistake is serious, for our amnesia limits our ability to muster similar efforts today, as we assume that it takes a saint to initiate change.

Beale Street

         

         While in Memphis, we also stopped by the Blues City Cafe, Gus' Fried Chicken, and spent a couple hours on Beale Street enjoying the live music and upbeat atmosphere. However, despite the prodigious dining options and awesome music, our trip was dominated by the National Civil Rights Museum. For, even though they kicked us out at closing, we remained there the rest of the day.



Dr. Boyd

       

This past week the interns met with Dr. Richard Boyd, Mississippi's first appointed state superintendent of education. In speaking with Dr. Boyd, the massive overhaul needed to improve public education, not just in Mississippi, was quite apparent. For, as Dr. Boyd pointed out, school reforms have all been focused on the inside of the schoolhouse, a small portion of the student’s life. Reform, whatever form it may be in, needs to address the forces which enter the classroom at the heels of students, none more powerful than poverty.

          In a 2009 NAEP study, Mississippi ranked dead last and third from last in family income and parent education. Mississippi also ranked third from last and dead last in 4th grade reading proficiency and 8th grade math proficiency. That is no coincidence. Students coming from poverty, especially when lacking sufficient pre-kindergarten education (which is almost always), are absent more, learn less, and are far more likely to drop out, go to jail, and have unhealthy, unhappy lives. This is not disputed. But, as Steven Reinberg pointed out in his recent HealthDay article posted June 9th, 2011, "there is a gap between what we know and what we fund." Bill Gates et al. can pour as much money into new educational methods as they want, but until the larger issues are addressed, the problems will persist. For, as Dr. Boyd explained, it doesn't simply take a village, it is about the village itself that we must be concerned.
           
            The increasing chasm between those who receive a quality education and those who do not is quickly redefining our country’s global standing. Dr. Boyd shared with us a recent study of the twenty four member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The countries were ranked on the material well-being, educational well-being, and health well-being of their children. Out of twenty-four countries, the United States finished second to last. The only country worse than us was Slovakia. Our students are poor, poorly educated, and extremely unhealthy. The United States has the largest poverty class of any industrialized nation and it is quickly growing. If measures are not taken to address this issue, which is not limited to matters of education, the soon-to-be majority minority population will be relegated to an uneducated lower class with few prospects for escape. This path is not nationally beneficial, economically, politically, socially, or morally and those who claim to be real patriots ought to be concerned. This divergence of opportunity will increasingly define what it means to be an American: rich or (for the vast majority) poor. When the original GI Bill was signed, it was hailed as a landmark achievement. Education was truly believed to be the great equalizer. Not it has become the great separator, knocking people down rather than helping them up.