King was Not Alone

A group of professors, students and community members listened to Terry Jones speak about multiculturalism Monday in a presentation titled "A Nation Still Divided By Race."

Jones, a professor of sociology at California State University, opened his presentation with a few general questions about the status of race relations at EMU.

For persons of color, Jones said reactions to his questions are typically strong.

Because of this, Jones said that people of color need to speak about the discomfort of race within their own group, and they must become comfortable with discussing difficult issues openly.

Jones said that Americans generally have an inability to deal across racial lines. There are issues, like racism, xenophobia and homophobia, that Americans simply do not want to deal with.

Jones also addressed how multidemensional Martin Luther King Jr. was. King's vision went beyond the "I Have A Dream" speech and equality among races, Jones said. King also addressed issues regarding the separation between sexes and socioeconomic conditions.

What Americans need to realize, he said, is that King wasn't great by himself and he did not fight this battle alone. There were a lot of strong African-American communities who helped him along the way.

Jones said that Americans have an obsession with individualism. However, King did not make it on his own.

E.D. Nixon, Joanna Robinson and Ella Baker were among those who played very important roles that enabled King to get his message across.

Nixon's work on the railroad enabled him to ride the rails back and forth to gather individuals to help with the civil rights crusade.

Robinson and many other women jeopardized their jobs by delivering fliers regarding their civil rights meetings.

Baker was a chief lieutenant to King and helped him with decision making.

Americans do not have to look for another individual to become a leader; all we have to do is look within our own community, Jones said.

American universities need to learn how to address these issues through multiculturalism classes, said Jones. It is important to learn about different cultures so that people can understand each other, he said.

"Start from where a student is and guide him where you want him to be," said Jones.

This article was previously printed in the Eastern Echo News, Volume 104 No. 49 on Wednesday, January 20, 1993 by Faith Redwine.