Steve S. is a maintenance man at the Margolin Hebrew Academy here in Memphis, Tennessee. He is currently fifty-six years old. Throughout those years, he has experienced many different moments in American history and their outcomes. One of his most memorable experiences was his survival of the time when Martin Luther King was shot. His story shows how dangerous that time was. Some people think that the King was shot, the assassin was apprehended, and the story stops there: however, it goes much deeper than that. There were tons of riots and negative consequences, especially in Memphis. So how he lived through it, and how it affected America is truly remarkable.
It all started out in Westwood, a subdivision of Memphis. Life for him there was pretty laid back. School was fine. He had a friendly neighborhood. He went to school like a normal kid. When he got home he would play and do things that a normal 10 year old would do. Life was just easy going. However, it all changed that night on April 4, 1968.
He received the news when he and his family were gathered around the table eating supper. Now when he heard it, he did not think much of it. He really didn’t know who Martin Luther King was at the moment. He was just ten. However, it was the reactions of the people around him that affected him the most that night. Throughout that night, Steve remembered a ton of rioting and other horrid sights. Policemen were being beat up. Cars were being turned over and set on fire. It was just chaos. Since it was so chaotic, the National Guard was called in. This helped the city a little but not totally.
The days following that night were not much better for Steve or the city. The riots continued and so did the violence. Steve’s family itself was attacked a few times. This time was so dangerous that it was the only time that Steve remembers that his father loaded a gun and set it by the door. One day, as he was driving to school, a brick was thrown threw the car window. He was lucky that no one was severely injured. The school was locked down so many times that parents had to actually come into school and walk their kids out. Steve also had police escort him out of school a few times since Black people were surrounding the school throwing rocks and bricks at it. Life got worse than that. His mother, his friends, and many more people he knew were attacked. He remembered kids being hospitalized and having gashes, cuts, and bruises on their heads and bodies. The riots became so dangerous around the school that oneday the teachers had to help the kids out the windows so they could escape. One of the reasons Steve survived was because his father taught him how to fight and run fast in order to survive that time. Those skills really helped him get out of many tough situations. Like Steve said, “I’m surprised that I made it through it to tell you the truth. Because I know a lot of people that didn’t.”
It didn’t stay that way for long. After the assassin was caught, things eased up. The riots started to stop. Life started to go back to normal, however not totally normal. After his death, people started to open their eyes. Steve S. believes that racial equality should be for everyone. It seems that other people got the message. After Martin Luther King’s death, things started to get better for black people. However, it took awhile.
Even though he suffered this much, he still has his respect for the King. As Steve S. said, “I think that he was a great man for both races, for white and black. I think he was trying to get everybody to get along.” Steve believes that Martin Luther King was a great man. We are very fortunate to live in a society today where everyone shares his beliefs.