MLK Day

I took a moment to reflect on the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr, what he represented and how one person could have such a far reaching impact on United States and the world at large. Then I thought of one of my former classmates. We were friends for awhile. She- Hispanic-American and me - African-American. Other than our height and affinity for the same music, we had little else in common. Yet we managed to stay friends for awhile.

One day she commented that she didn't know why we got a day off for Martin Luther King's Birthday. She went on to say that "It's not like he really did anything all that great - he never did anything for me." For the life of me, I am not sure why she felt comfortable telling me that - she would tell me things like "she didn't see me as black, because I wasn't like any other black person" (perhaps because I talked "proper" - another culture shock I experienced when moving to the South). I digress. I told her that she didn't have to celebrate his birthday if she didn't want to but if it were not for his work, we may have never had the opportunity to meet. She blew that comment off and still maintained that she didn't understand why we had to have the day off. (Strange, I hardly ever complain about a day off)

I told my mom what she said and she was furious and I think she wanted me to end our friendship. She didn't ever explicitly say that - but it was clear that her opinion of her had changed. I think that (or at least I hope) that my former classmate, was only repeating something she heard in her home.

It was interesting in the future, she would say a lot more things with which I disagreed. She didn't believe in interracial relationships. I can still see the way she would frown when she would see an interracial couple. Me, being me, said, "you don't have to believe them for them to exist." She didn't believe in pre-marital sex - ironically she was the first one in our circle to lose her virginity - and not surprisingly - I was the last. I am pretty sure she didn't marry that guy - at least I hope not. He had a couple other girlfriends on the side.

She once stopped speaking to me because when she asked me if I was pro-life, I said no. She was furious with me. She didn't speak to me for a week. How bizarre, that the abortion debate mattered that much at such a young age - we were probably around 13 or 14. Because she was Catholic, she didn't believe in birth control, so I guess I could understand and repsect her stance. I had a hard time understanding why she couldn't seem to respect my point of view.

As the years passed, we grew apart. Last I spoke to her, she lived at home with her parents and worked as an accountant. That was about 3 years ago. I wonder if any of her ideas changed over the years, not so much the pro-life stuff, but the Martin Luther King, Jr, ideology. I hope so.