When I was a kid I hated Sunday morning television. It was
all politics on every station. At the age of 11, although I knew that I was
living through some historical times, I was more interested in old movies than
the political debates on the important issues of the day. Don’t take me wrong,
even at that tender age I had definite points of view on everything from school
integration to the War in Vietnam, I just wanted Sundays to be carefree and
didn’t see the purpose of these shows.
Well, I’m older now, and perhaps a bit wiser; it’s hard to
say. But I have a love of history, and You Tube is a veritable mother lode of
information on just about any subject you can imagine, so I have been scrolling
through some of the old Sunday morning shows which I didn’t appreciate at the
time. It is amazing at what I am finding in my search.
Take this episode of Meet the Press from March 28, 1965, with
Martin Luther King, Jr. appearing within a week of the infamous Selma March and
the bloodbath on the bridge during the march to the State Capitol in Montgomery.
It is of particular interest because of the recent gutting of the Voting Rights
Act by the Supreme Court. That law was passed in response to all of the abuses
taking place in the South; and elsewhere; when it came to the Right to Vote.
Listen carefully to the words and apply them to the situation
as it stands today. Although we have an African-American President, racism is
not dead in America. Far from it; it’s on the upswing. The Supreme Courts
recent decision concerning the Voting Rights Act only makes it clearer.
