It was the last few days of summer in August, 1963 that Dr. Martin Luther King gave his "I have a Dream Speech." I was 14. Soon, I was going to be a freshman at Hueneme High School. I had spent the summer preparing for High School. I remember spending most of my time with two girlfriends going to the beach near the Pink Hotel in Oxnard, California. We were light hearted, young, and full of hope. We talked about how we were going to act in high school, what we were going to wear, and boys. Boys were our main topic. We all wanted a boyfriend even though we knew our parents would not let us date until we were 16.
I was almost oblivious to the turmoil that was spreading across the United States regarding segregation and race. Not because I did not care, but because my world was very limited to my life in Oxnard, California. In Oxnard, schools were not segregated, nor were restaurants, bathrooms or housing areas. Although, I had some perception because as a family we watched the evening news together.
I remember watching the March on Washington and being slightly confused. I just didn't understand. I knew "somewhere out there" people were suffering and dying because of their race, but it was not happening where I lived. To me, the whole thing was insane to think that "Blacks" and "Whites" could not go to school together or socialize together. They did in my world. Therefore, I couldn't grasp the reality or the gravity of the race problem.
This is what I remember about Marting Luther King's immortal "I Have a Dream Speech." This is my recount of this historical moment.
First of all, I did not listen to it in real time. California was three hours behind Washington, DC and there was no such thing as watching in real time. By the time I watched the speech on the news, it had already been delivered. My family was gathered around our black and white 12 inch TV waiting for dinner when Dr. King began speaking. I remember being amazed at the amount of people who were in attendance. I had visited DC about five years previous, therefore I did have a conception of how huge the Washington DC mall really was. I remember his speech started out in a rhetorical style. I remember that he spoke to the group making statements that he understood the great hardships of the American Negro. I remember that he invoked words of our great President, Abraham Lincoln. I also remember thinking, "gosh I am hungry, I hope dinner is soon ready."
I remember that Dr. King had been speaking for some time when suddenly his demeanor changed. I remember that he had been reading from a prepared script and suddenly he stopped. He just stopped. This got my attention. Then, he took a breath and grabbed hold of the podium at which he was speaking. When he started speaking again, I remember this is what he said. However, this is not a direct quote. This is taken from my memory. "I have a dream that my four little children will someday live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but on the content of their character." I remember after that sentence that I just stared at the TV. I can honestly say I never listened to another word. That one sentence held me spellbound.
Soon my mother called us to the table for dinner. I remember coming to the table completely silent, which was not like me. I was always known as the family chatter box. I picked up my fork and stared at my food. After a few seconds, I remember lifting my head and looking at my Daddy who was sitting to my right and asking if what I had just heard was true. Was it really true that negro children were treated differently than I was in Oxnard? I remember that he was silent for a moment and then somberly he looked me in the eye and simply said, "Yes." I remember that we all ate dinner in silence that evening. In fact, I don't remember much conversation at all for the rest of the evening.
When I went to bed that night, I remember lying awake and thinking this can't be true. Black children in other parts of the US were no different than my black friends in Oxnard. I just couldn't grasp the reality of it. I was in shock. I remember feeling overwhelming sad for my friends, Mary County and Teddy Williams. Then, I remember sobbing myself to sleep.
I was 14 going on 15. To this day, I have never forgotten my reaction to that one sentence, nor my total disbelief, or my chrushing saddness. About two weeks later, four little girls were killed after their church in which they were attending bible service was bombed. Yes, everything that Dr. King said was true.
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