Dickey W. was born in 1950 and has lived in Arlington, Tennessee his entire life. He was eighteen years old, a senior student in high school, in 1968. Life in 1968 was much different than life in 2014. Grocery stores were only located in the city, so Dickey had to drive into Memphis to buy his groceries. The cars during this time had no air conditioning or radio. Computers and cell phones had not been invented in this time period. Most babies, including Dickey, were born in a house rather than a hospital with a midwife as the doctor. Also, the city of Memphis was much safer and cleaner in 1968 than it is now. "I'm sad to say that I believe our city has taken a downward spiral with crime and sanitation within the last forty years," said Dickey. Although the city was safer, different races were mean towards each other. Blacks were treated very unfairly compared to whites; black workers were paid less than minimum wage and were required to work on holidays. He does not remember where he was on April 4, 1969 when he heard the news of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination; he could have been at his house or his girlfriend's house. Television back then had only three channels, all of which were covering the story. He heard about his assassination on the news. Blacks were going crazy; they robbed stores, burned buildings, and caused riots. The action in Memphis that night was much like the commotion that has gone on in Ferguson, Missouri. Dickey's parents would not allow him into the city because of the violence going on. The national guard had to come to Memphis just to settle the riots and violence. For a while after that night, the police enforced curfew to stifle the fires, robberies, and violence; people were forced to go into their houses when the sun went down. Dickey hated seeing King assassinated, but he hated it even more since it happened in Memphis. The murder and riots gave Memphis a bad reputation. Before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Dickey thought the man was trouble and brought trouble. Riots followed him wherever he went, which fired up the blacks. Dickey and his family did not treat blacks very well; he learned how to treat dark-skinned people from his family and friends. He felt hostility towards blacks after the assassination because the riots caused hard feelings. After King was shot, Dickey researched his speeches and beliefs and changed his opinion of the man. Dickey believes the things King spoke about and also wants equality for races. He realized he and his family treated blacks disrespectfully and is ashamed of his actions and words back then. Dickey W. is glad that racism has lessened; although, he wishes the discrimination between races would be obsolete. He agrees with Martin Luther King Jr.'s beliefs and hopes his words about peace and equality can become reality for all humans.