Janet Bell S. was eighteen years old on April 4, 1968, the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed here in Memphis, Tennessee. As a freshman at Memphis State University, Janet lived just south of the campus, a then safe and white neighborhood. The community existed as a close-knit, familiar haven for Janet and her neighbors.
An active member at her college and in her sorority, Janet was prepared to present a speech nominating a sorority sister for student government when someone cut her off. The official told the members of the assembly that King had been assassi- nated, and a curfew was in place. Everyone was to go home immediately. Since she and most of her friends lived near campus, Janet quickly and nervously got into her car with a group of girls, dropping each off at her house on the way back home. On the way home, Janet recalls hearing a radio announcement that the suspect was thought to be driving a white Mustang. As soon as the radio went off, a white Mustang roared past the car, arousing more and more fear in the girls.
After arriving home, Janet immediately turned on the news, waiting for any more information of the murder. Throughout the night, riots and looting began in primarily black neighborhoods. Janet and her community remained fairly safe and unthreatened,
realizing that the blacks were only burning the older parts of town: black neighborhoods. The city of Memphis was divided.
Before King's death, Janet never thought much of him. She associated him with trouble; not that King caused dissent, but that he always appeared on the news when trouble was stirring. However, after his assassination, King is now considered a major civil rights hero in history. The main question of Janet and many others of racism has still remained throughout modern times: Why is it this way? Eighteen-year-old Janet just knew things would be different by 2014. Racism would not exist, lunch counters in drug stores would not be an issue, and the prejudiced city of Memphis would once again have the tight, local, community feel that once existed. However, no matter how much the problem is avoided, it continually persists. Janet's story of racism and segregation in Memphis has not ended yet. This story will go on until Memphis decides to take a stand.