Mr. Bruce H., as a citizen of the Memphis community since a very young age, has lived through many occurrences in the history of Memphis, one of which is perhaps the most memorable: the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Having lived in midtown at the time, Mr. H. attended an integrated school for his junior and senior high years, a happening that he paid no mind to. With Conservative Republican parents Mr. H. lived through their slight fear of African Americans, but he himself did not judge others by their skin color.
During the 1960s, life was much different; Mr. H lived in a world where he could play outside in his neighborhood until dark without any concern for his safety. In fact, that was exactly what he was doing when he received news of King's death. When this event had occurred, Mr. H.'s aunt and cousins had been in town visiting, and he had gone out with those his age to play baseball in a nearby field around six o'clock. He recalls the sky having still been bright when his parents drove up in their car to where they had been playing, saying that they all had to get home as soon as possible.
That evening Mr. H. did not live through as much of a fright as his parents did. Fourteen year old Mr. H. did not care much for the business of adults; he preferred to spend his time thinking about sports and girls, the typical thoughts going through the mind of a teenage boy. As he watched, his parents frantically rushed around the house making sure all of the doors were locked, as well as remaining alert for fear of riots spurring up due to the dissension throughout the area. Mr. H., other than watching the news, did not pay much attention to these issues other than wholeheartedly believing that the event was truly horrible.
Once the trouble had been stirred up, many people lived their lives in fear. Due to the shocking occurrence of the night before, parents did not allow their children to play outside late at night anymore in order to maintain caution in the case of any physical harm possibly coming to them. Although this was the main difference in everyday life that Mr. H. observed, he does not recall much more having changed in the days that had followed the assassination. Aware of the riots downtown, Mr. H. realized that this was a major issues for several people, but he did not see it as a serious concern for him or is family.
Having been a young white boy living in a rather rich neighborhood in the 1960s, Mr. H. did not know much about King until his death; the only information he had concerning King was about his speech at the Lincoln memorial and other places located in the Memphis area. Before or after Mr. H. had not known much about this man other than how much his death had changed life for the entire nation bit by bit. There was a gradual attitude change within the people, which led Mr. H. to say that one good thing about the terrible incident was that "it helped to create more compassion." This specifically means that it ultimately led to desegregation and helped people to see African Americans as well as whites as people and citizens of the nation of the free. Having happened several decades ago, the event was hard for Mr. H. to completely recall, seeing as he was between fourteen and fifteen in either ninth or tenth grade, but it is evident that this was an event in history that will live in the memories of Americans everywhere, whether they were there to live through the time period or not.