By REBEKAH RAY

rlr017@latech.edu

 

Last year, ground was broken at the site of the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial; a monument to a man who broke down racial barriers in America.

The concept for the memorial originated in 1984, within Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and construction is set to be completed in 2008.

Jason Young, a senior political science major, said it is time that the memorial finally become a realization.

“It’s definitely better late than never. [King’s] place in our nation’s capital has been long overdue,” Young said.

In a speech given at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial ground-breaking ceremony, President George Bush said, “As we break ground: we give Martin Luther King his rightful place among the many Americans honored on the National Mall.”

Bush said the memorial brings together, symbolically, the men who declared the promise of American freedom with one who fought to defend and redeem it.

Young agreed King’s memorial should stand with those dedicated to the men whose visions King strove to bring to true light.

“[King’s] dream was to have the words of our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence interpreted as written, with no exceptions to the minorities and disadvantaged of the country,” Young said.

Cekedrick Batton, a senior speech major, is president of Tech’s Minority Students Organization. He said he believes the monument holds significance for every American, not just African Americans.

“It shows how Americans can come together and move past an issue that we have dealt with in this country for a long time,” Batton said.

Elaine Thompson, an assistant professor of history, said she believes Americans need to take responsibility for America’s racist past.

“We need to be reminded of our legacy of slavery, so that we can be honest with ourselves about our own prejudices,” She said.

Thompson said Americans should learn from the lessons of the past, and reject old prejudices.

David Anderson, an assistant professor of history, said he hopes the memorial will represent the large-scope vision King shared with so many others.

“If the monument reminds people that we help create the possibilities for a world in which we can view each other as equals and as fellow citizens, I think it serves its purpose,” Anderson said.

He said Tech students are at a place that was central in the Civil Rights Movement, and should be aware they are a part of history in the making, every day.

“Every day that we attend an interracial university, we’re part of not only this legacy, but we’re making the history that King and other Civil Rights activists had envisioned and, in cases, gave their lives for.”

More than 600 of King’s speeches and letters are now on display, accessible to the public for the first time.

The showcase opened at the Atlanta History Center Jan. 15.

King’s speeches are displayed in chronological order.

King’s most famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” is included in the display, and the series comes to an end with what was his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.”

Anderson said students should remember that Tech itself was not integrated until the 1960s.

“We should realize we haven’t closed this chapter in history,” Anderson said.

“This is an experiment in human history to see if we can interact with each other in ways that would’ve been unthinkable, even 50 years ago.”