Chris was an All-American, sixteen year old boy. He grew up in a middle class neighborhood with a stay-at-home mother. He played baseball on the weekends and had plenty of friends. His father worked for the newspaper and would often put Chris to work delivering papers. Chris never really thought about the segregated world that he lived in. He didn’t have black children at his school or church, until one day. One Sunday morning a nice black family joined his family’s church. He remembered the church going silent as they walked forward, in fact multiple families left the church because of them joining. That event was the beginning of his awareness toward black families.
Not soon after this, Chris and his mother left on Spring Break vacation. His father stayed behind to work at the paper. While on vacation, a black gentleman name Martin Luther King, Jr was speaking in Memphis and the local paper was covering it. While in Memphis, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and riots grew in the streets. He remembered his mother being very worried because the newspaper agency was getting threats and there were riots right outside their gates. His mom was torn, should they drive home or stay on vacation were they were safest? They decided to drive home. The car ride was long and full of fear. What would they be driving into? Was his father safe? What if the rioters found out where they lived?
It was weeks until Memphis recovered from the riots but everyone knew that somethings would never return back to normal. As time past, Chris started to fully realize what Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to accomplish. Chris knew that if Martin Luther King’s movement caught fire, families like the ones that joined his church many years before would be accepted, even common.