MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Nearly 50 years have passed since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lost his life, and 12 years have passed since Morgantown began honoring Dr. King with a free event downtown on his birthday.
Despite how far race relations have come in the past 50 years, Debbie Anderson said she has reasons to be concerned about race relations over the past 12 years.
“We’re moving in the right direction, but we still have an extremely, extremely long way to go,” Anderson, the Morgantown-Kingwood NAACP Director, said Monday.
At the Metropolitan Theatre, guests could hear music, essays, and learn about the life of Dr. King as a young boy. Nearing the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s death, Anderson said those involved in the celebration wanted to focus more on Dr. King’s life.
“That’s how strong he believed in uniting, as a people, to fight for a cause that effected everybody of color, not just black people but everybody of color,” she said.
But 50 years later, his legacy remains something of a mixed bag — and that’s no fault of his, Anderson said.
“I’m just not sure where it stands,” she said. “I’m kind of worried about where it stands with what’s going on around the world and the politics and our President.”
She said it’s not just words, but economic issues facing black Americans that cause her to pause. These are issues, Anderson said, that have plagued the black community for more than a century following emancipation.
“You still have these same issues today,” she said. “It’s not saying much about the people and us coming together and uniting.”
Al Atwell, a singer with The Flying Colors, said Dr. King’s legacy is strong — but he doesn’t think the pastor and Civil Rights icon would recognize the world today.
“His legacy still stands, but if Dr. King were still living he would not be very happy with today’s time,” Atwell said.
Atwell said there’s plenty of blame to go around in today’s climate.
“He did all that he could do to try to bring people together,” he said. “It might have been a good thing to do, but it caused a lot of thing to do the opposite thing.”
Anderson said the celebration reminded her of a simple truth.
“You’re not born into this world hating anybody because of the color of their skin and their beliefs,” she said. “It’s learned. We need to take a step back and be conscious of what we’re teaching.”
“I just can’t seem to want to give up on people. It’s not that hard. It’s not that mad science. It’s fairly easy if you just stop and listen.”
April 4 will mark 50 years since Dr. King’s passing. He’d have been 89 years old Monday.