Dr. King

[L Verge]

As we remember the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am remembering 50 years ago when I was first really introduced to rioting up close. I was a teacher at the time with almost four years under my belt in dealing with 8th and 9th graders. I was skilled at talking about our patriotic forefathers "rioting" at the Boston Tea Party and the Baltimore Riots of 1861, and maybe had paid brief attention to other riots far away. All of a sudden, however, these riots were too close for comfort.

My apartment was about 100 yards from the DC/Maryland border, and my school was approximately two miles from that border in another direction. I would soon have a very good view of thick, black smoke rising up out of the Washington, D.C. that I had grown up visiting on almost a weekly basis. I had never realized that there was such tension in the few parts that I never ventured into - nor such hatred on the part of some residents. I knew about the divide "down South" because it was prominent in the media, but I must have missed what was at my own back door.

As if the burning of large portions of D.C. wasn't enough, I was also awakened to martial law. Because of the close proximity to the city line, our school became a command center for several police units. Teachers had to report for duty, but the students stayed home for a number of days.

It was sort of freaky to not be able to go to the teachers' lounge for a cup of coffee or to use a real bathroom. The lounge was now filled with cots and men so that the manpower could remain on site and rotate duties. I was actually engaged to a county policeman at the time, but he was stationed at the police academy about a mile away. I did not see him or talk to him for over a week.

I still try to fully understand the riot mindset that the 50s and 60s ingrained in us. I have watched Washington, DC struggle to rebuild -- and it has taken about forty years. I watched the orchestrated riots during our last inauguration. Will we ever grow smart enough to dispense with the senseless violence and rely on common sense, the skills of peaceful protests and the democratic way to achieve progress?