Where did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s? I lived in East Memphis. Middleclass America and very Southern. Memphis had a smalltown feel.
Describe your life in 1968. What was a typical day like for you in 1968? School? Work? How was it different from today?
I had a newspaper route and went to a Jewish private school. On a typical day I would hang out with friends.
What do you remember about the day King was assassinated? What was different than normal? How did you feel? What did you think? Where were you when you heard? How did you react? How did people around you react? How did things change through the night? Everything was very, very quiet. I didn’t realize he had been assassinated. Everyone was off the streets. People were watching TV and listening to the radio, while I was out on my newspaper route. A police car followed me along my route and told me to go home and about the assassination. It didn’t affect me right away. Everyone was worried the downtown riots would spread. Nobody wanted to leave their homes. There was lots of security. (i.e. National Guard, police, etc.) Nothing really happened in the area.
Describe your night after King was shot? Where were you that night? What was the city like? I was in East Memphis. That area was very quiet. Downtown and black neighborhoods had riots, marches, vandalism, and protests.
What did you think of King before and after his death?
Before his death, I wasn’t really aware of him or the civil rights movement. After his death, I became more aware because the movement was everywhere.
Did life change at all after his death? Did people act different or view problems differently? Do you think people’s attitudes changed?
People had different attitudes, but not always for the best. Some didn’t care that he was assassinated. Some became more aware and involved. Schools changed their curriculum to allow more civil issues into the classroom. there was fear because people didn’t know how to respond. Media showed protests and violence. The whole country changed, but Jim Crow laws stayed. There was still racism; it didn’t go away in a night. The assassination brought more stuff to the surface, i.e. social injustice.
Is there anything else about that time in your life that we haven’t discussed that you’d like to add?
This was possibly one of the reasons I ended up in law enforcement, because I felt I needed to contribute to society.