Last week, BH and I went to see the movie Selma . The movie is based on the life of MLK, and details in particular the events taking place in the area of Selma, Alabama.
I really liked this movie. It was poignant, realistic, and emotional. And honestly, in some small way, I can relate, as a member of the LGBT community, who has to jump through so many hoops and work so much harder to be able to have the same rights and privileges as a heterosexual couple.
But there were two reasons in particular that I liked it.
The first is that it showed MLK's more human side. We have a tendency to borderline deify our societal heroes, and forget that they were just as human as the rest of us. It showed aspects of King's life that I actually had to look up to learn if it were true, or just Hollywood taking artistic license. For instance, King was a serial adulterer. The things you don't learn about in school. Yet those flaws don't take away from the work he did for equality.
The second reason is because as a white person, I was able to relate more to it. Everyone who knows me pretty much knows I'm probably about as much of a liberal hippie as you can be this side of a pot-smoking, clothing-optional commune. But while I'm all about the Beatles, peace, pacifism, etc, I have trouble sometimes relating to the Civil Rights movement, because, lets face it, my family was pretty much on the wrong side of that conversation.
But Selma eventually detailed white people who were activists in the Civil Rights movement as well. It showcased white people - many who were clergy - who joined the black people in the March and stood up for equality, realizing that without equality for everyone, there could be no true equality for anyone. People like James Reeb , a Unitarian Minister who was killed by white supremacists (who were later acquitted) for his participation in the march for equal voting rights in Selma. Or Viola Liuzzo , a white (also Unitarian) woman who was shot and killed by klansmen while transporting fellow activists back to Montgomery.
In a way I wish activists such as Mr. Reeb or Mrs. Liuzzo had more attention in the civil rights movement hall of fame, being talked about in school right alongside King, Malcom X, etc.. While we need MLK and others, and to be reminded of their hard work and place in history, it feels to me that we also need white role models to remind average, middle-class whites that racism is just as much our problem as it is blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, etc. King fought to change a system in which he was directly affected, being prevented from voting and from having other basic human rights simply because of his race. People like Mr. Reeb and Mrs. Liuzzo could have very easily lived their lives in their little bubbles and went about business as usual, and ignored the problem, like so many others did in that day (and still do). Yet they chose not to. I have to ask myself: which is easier? To stand up for yourself, or to stand up for others?
And that, to me, is the overall message of Selma, as well as Martin Luther King Day. Prejudice is not just the blacks' problem. It's not just the Hispanics' problem. It's everyone's problem.
I close with one of my favorite quotes, from Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller#sthash.My0dDzR8.dpuf
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller#sthash.My0dDzR8.dpuf
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller#sthash.My0dDzR8.dpuf
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller#sthash.My0dDzR8.dpuf
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller#sthash.My0dDzR8.dpuf
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller#sthash.My0dDzR8.dpuf
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me - See more at: http://hmd.org.uk/resources/poetry/first-they-came-pastor-martin-niemoller#sthash.My0dDzR8.dpuf
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