Comments on: May 3, 1963

By: Matt in Tucson

Matt in Tucson — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:59:31 +0000

I think the Eldorado raid is the modern equivalent. Many people have demonized the FLDS. But, the non-violence in the face of religious bigotry has won them many supporters.

By: BruceC

BruceC — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:30:31 +0000

I like the comparison of Martin Luther King to Joseph Smith. I recall hearing some less than flattering biographical information about MLK and it reminded me of how Joseph was similarly attacked. They were both human. But none of their shortcomings should overshadow the great things they accomplished. It is often the last available means of the loosing side to attack the character of their opponent.

By: Ray

Ray — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:14:22 +0000

I don’t see it as puzzling; rather, I see it as a general rule. Generally, we believe in honoring and sustaining the law; sometimes, we don’t. It’s crossing articles and “allowing all men everywhere the same privilege” with which we tend to struggle.

By: cj douglass

cj douglass — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:56:29 +0000

SAP,
I think you’re right the 12th article is a little puzzling. The American revolutionary war is a good example. Ghandi, Dr. King and even the early LDS muddy the waters even more. Disobey the law for a moral and just cause? Of course I would.

By: SAP

SAP — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:08:39 +0000

This brings up the very interesting issue of civil disobedience. The 12th Article of Faith says,

“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”

I don’t really agree with this because the law is created by human beings and is therefore flawed. A several months ago I saw Betty Krawczyk speak about her experiences as an environmental activist and she talked about getting arrested (she joked that being in prison was like receiving a grant to write her book). This got me thinking about whether it would be considered wrong in the eyes of God to defy the law to stand up for what you believe in, as Martin Luther King Jr and others have done. Sadly I think many LDS people would disapprove of this. Of course they are obviously forgetting about how the early saints broke the law when they practiced polygamy in the state of Illinois…

By: EricG

EricG — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:37:27 +0000

I’m not old enough to remember the events of 1963 (although I have a memory of the JFK assassination), but it wasn’t long after that (perhaps two or three years) that in my school they had a black man featured at a school assembly. I don’t remember now if he was there to speak or if he was a performer of some sort (he might have been an opera singer). The only thing I remember for certain is my surprise at seeing that the skin of his palms was much lighter than the rest of his skin. That’s how sheltered I was, living in the Pacific Northwest; I may not have ever seen a black person close up before that time.

I am thankful for the progress our country has made since that time. I’m grateful that I was able to go to college and live in a dorm that had black people, and I am glad that my children wouldn’t think it unusual to have friends of a different race.

And I’m glad that I am able to (and will) vote for a black man for president in the upcoming presidential primary. For the work of King and many others, I am grateful.

We still have a long, long way to go. There’s still a huge racial voting divide, especially in the more “integrated” states, and even some “liberals” haven’t abstained from playing the race card when it would be to their advantage. And there are huge racial gaps as well in incomes, education and other things we measure success by.

And just as there were those a generation ago who prayed for the day when descendants of Africa could receive the priesthood, I pray for the day when we see nonwhites as apostles.

By: john willis

john willis — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:48:08 +0000

Compare and contrast the letter from a Brimingham Jail with Doctrine and Covenants Sections 121 and 122. There is something about being confined in Jail that brings out great words of inspiration from great spiritual leaders. Other examples would be the Paul’s letters while in Roman captivity and Gandhi’s autobiography My Experiments with Truth written while in a British Jail.
There are many other similarities between the life of Martin Luther King and Joseph Smith(both were murdered at age 39 for example.) But that is another post

By: Ray

Ray — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:00:18 +0000

Wonderful perspective, Molly. Sometimes we forget and aren’t as merciful as we should be toward those who simply were ignorant of the situation and reacting, as you said, to what they perceived as just more turmoil in a tumultuous time. Thank you.

By: Molly Bennion

Molly Bennion — Sat, 03 May 2008 06:27:02 +0000

To this high school junior in 1963, the shock went far beyond the firehoses. The greater shock was learning of the situation in the South and then in considering the issue of racism nationwide and beyond for the first time. Few of us had recognized overt racism or considered pervasive covert racism. In our peaceful integrated but at least 97% white high school of 2700 in Spokane, WA, the adventurous readers were reading Vonnegut, Salinger, Orwell, Golding, Rand and Tolkien. Baldwin and Ellison’s works had been out for quite a while and Griffin’s classic Black Like me came out in 1963, but we had never heard of them. Travel was much rarer than today. Society was much less affluent and mobile. I met my first Southerner at Girls’ Nation the summer of 1963 and was stunned by her descriptions and acceptance of segregation. TV news was still in its childhood and our parents were consumed with providing a middle class life and forgetting the horrors of the 2 wars they had fought. The adults I knew well were as surprised and disturbed by the news as I. (The only difference I recall in their reactions and mine was their fear of chaos and war, all too fresh in their minds.) Textbooks and teachers apparently also knew little of the realities of the South. It must seem strange to you who are younger, but race and gender history were scarcely mentioned in school. All changed with Martin Luther King and his brilliant nonviolent strategy and timing. That brilliance can’t be overestimated.

1963 was also the year The Feminine Mystique was published, Kennedy was assassinated and we began to hear little rumors of Vietnam. It was a momentous time, a profound awakening.

By: Steve Jones

Steve Jones — Sat, 03 May 2008 03:55:57 +0000

I went to Montgomery six months after Dr. King was killed. I was there when there was a march from Selm to Montgomery in commemoration of his life and and the earlier Selma to Montgomery march. I later served in Birmingham. When I was in Birmingham they had the highest unsolved murder rate in the country. They were quick to say that if a black person was the victim they did not even investigate. It was an eye opening experience. During the 1970 gubertorial campaign. George Allace was running for the seat his dead wife Lurlene had held til her death. He ran against a man named Brewer who had succeeded Lurlene. Another candidate was Asa Carter, who had been Wallace’s speech writer. He ran on a blatantly racist platform that there should be a slave in every household. Brewer won the primary, there was no republican party in Alabama at that time. Wallace was a very poor second. Brewer did not get a majority and there was a runoff. Wallace turned his campaign decidedly racist and stated that if the people wanted a black lover then vote for Brewer. Wallace won the runoff handily.