Steven M. by Kayla A., Harding Academy

In 1968, Steven M. was a twelve year old living on Cherry Road, in a white, middle class neighborhood. He recalls that there was a lot of change in society and music in the 60s. In his daily life, he walked to Colonial Jr. High School, an all white school at the time. He had no contact with African-Americans, which is different from today, when he works with many African- Americans. He also watched tv every night. He does not remember the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., but he does remember that directly afterwards there was a curfew of 10. He felt nervous and, coming from a highly prejudiced family, thought it was funny. He was at home when he heard about the assassination and remembers that other people were nervous because for two nights after the assassination, there was looting in the streets. He was at home the night that King was shot. People were upset and many African-Americans were rioting. Before King's death, Mr. M. did not think about him often. After King's death, he realized that King did a lot of good and it was time for segregation to end. As a twelve year old, not much changed about his life after the assassination. People were cautious about things for a while. Their attitudes changed because they knew that change was coming, and some people tried to stop the change. Prejudiced whites started their own schools to stop integration, but eventually realized that segregation was inevitable. Other than that, life in the 60s was boring.