I interviewed my grandma, Marie. She lived in the country. She was 22 years old and was married and had a daughter at this point. There was much racial tension. She realized this at a young age. She was a farmers daughter, and grew up and played with blacks. Her parents and the blacks worked together in the fields.
In 1968 my grandmother was married with a kid. She didn't work she spent most of her day taking care of the baby and working in the house. She was alone all day while my grandpa worked. She wasn't in school but when she was in school she road the bus and the black people had to sit in the back of the bus. She didn't really understand why it was like that just because their skin were different colors.
She was home when king was killed. She was shocked when she heard about it she was sad and confused why someone would do this. She was afraid of all of the riots there were. People were very violent she said. The people around her were sad just like her family and they were also terrified of the riots and were wondering when it was going to end. They didn't know what would happen during the night.
She was home with my aunt. The city was uneasy and there were a lot of different feeling and emotions going through everyone's head. She said after everything called down and the riots stopped. People were still supporting him. They started deciding it was the right thing to do. But still some people didn't think they deserved rights. The people that wanted his dreams to come true fought hard for it. People's attitudes did change so for the better and some for the worse.
She feels since this happened that everyone black and white both had equal rights and we were both created equal. She feels that we cannot move on to the future if we hold on to the past.