His Name Was Martin

"His name was Martin Luther King. He died so all men could be free".
Victor Spain

  I sat in my room watching a documentary about Martin Luther King, Jr. on television this afternoon. It was hosted by Tom Brokaw and a litany of people, both celebrity and common folk, who had interacted with MLK at some time or another either by personal contact or by proxy. As often as I have viewed documentaries about King I am still appalled at the footage of beatings at sit-ins, water hoses being turned on blacks, dogs mauling  black men and women, open Klan activity and racist city officials. I do not hate any race of people for I know that ignorance played a large part of the shameful actions of many people back then; however I do hate the racial ignorance which continues to permeate in this day and age.
  I often recant as to how I truly did not know racism until I joined the military. I grew up as an "Army brat" whose friends were the color of a rainbow. When I joined the Army I experienced how men would judge you because of your color. I recall how in 1995 I was stationed in Alaska and held the job as the brigade signal (communications) chief. After I had been there for some time we received a new Signal officer who was white and from Seattle, Washington. He had a bad habit of referring to white people as "thinkers" and black people as "workers". He would use profanity in the presence of my female soldiers and they came to me to report their disdain concerning this. When I privately approached him concerning his profanity and his labeling of people, he smiled and said "I couldn't understand what you are feeling even if I put black shoe polish on my face". And then he laughed.
  I reported this conversation to the higher chain of command and they responded as they felt was necessary. They relieved me of my duties as the Battalion Signal Chief and left the racist captain in his position. I knew that it was time to leave the military.
  Over the years, in spite of having witnessed several blatant racist acts, I have held on to the belief that not all white people are as evil as some I have encountered during my lifetime. I am proud to say that I love all people; even though I may deplore the acts they commit, both black and white. I am not so naive as to believe that only those who look as I do have my best interest at heart for we are all just people.
  I do ask that on this special day we all will look a little deeper under our skin and discover that we are all in this together.
 I love you all.
 Dennis