Beth M. was 10 years old when Martin Luther King was assassinated. As a small Caucasian girl in a upper middle class neighborhood, she hadn't learned of Dr. King or his message. While I had the privilege to interview her, she put emphasis on the fact that her parents weren't raising her to be racist, "My parents weren't overtly racist and they never said black people weren't equal, but there was an attitude of how could they be?" She does however remember that Thursday, April 4 of 1968 was the birthday of her best friend. That night they had planned a birthday slumber party celebration of which their parents cancelled due to unrest in the city. Beth had noticed the unrest too, "I knew the black people were upset, and the trash workers especially." That following Sunday, Beth and her family sat in on a sermon in which the preacher approached a sensitive topic. He spoke on the unfairness and mistreatment of God's people. Beth recalled the confrontal tone of the speaker and the people who just stood up and walked out. She can't remember her parents blatantly standing up for the injustice of the black people, however, that Sunday morning, them choosing to stay the entire lesson served as an example of where their heart lay.
Four years later, as Beth attended Harding Academy of Memphis, she had her first class discussion on Martin Luther King. Now at the age of 56, she describes the lesson as long-lasting, "I didn't realize how big of a deal it was back then for someone to promote non-violence. I was mostly just a selfish little girl mad about the cancellation of a mere birthday party."