Where did you live? What was it like? What stands out about living in Memphis in the 1960s?
Mr.Bernard lived in Memphis TN in 1960. He came here before he was assassinated.
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 throughout the night?
“It was horrific no one expected it because he was very peaceful demonstrator his organization never did anything like... lighting fires, or tearing down stores or breaking windows. He came to Memphis. The garbage department was on a strike, striking for more money and he came here to make a speech and to march with them and he was staying in the Lorraine hotel and we all heard on the radio that he was assassinated. Cities throughout the country, The major cities like Detroit and New York, places like that people were rioting. In Memphis they were rioting but not as much in LA. The city put out an order for everyone to have a curfew. They were not to go out during curfew. They made sure not to let anyone out past curfew. Everyone stayed in their homes after dark. The whole world/country was shocked because he was a good person that he preached in his values and he got shot and everybody was scared because he got shot. Everyone thought there were going to be riots. It was stunning to us that something can happen like that in Memphis. This was our home town and you just don’t expect that to happen near your front door. We never experienced anything like that.”
Describe your life in 1968. What was a typical day like for you in 1968? School? Work? How was it different from today? What did you think of King before and after his death?
“Nothing stood out really. Everybody was happy and everybody was working. It was all segregated. It was a peaceful place. There was a couple of robberies, but there weren’t anything like riots. It was a good community, people got along very well. For the black community was not very pleasant. We had segregation. everything was black and white, fountains, bathrooms, and restaurants. He talked about how it felt to be black. Your friends were either white or black, you did not have black and white friends you had only friends that where the same colors as you. He was the greatest motivator because people realised there was another side to the coin. Before you didn't really recognise anything until Martin Luther said his speech.”
“Everything was the same. You had entertainment. Every generation is the same. You would get dress and wait to leave. The basics don’t change. There was no NCSY (National Council of Synagogue Youth). Jewish people didn't have anything to do on shabbat. People weren't involved with civilization. Kids went to each others houses on shabbat and that is it they did. After Martin Luther King, people started to get involved with the civil rights more and care about more things.”
Describe your night after King was shot? Where were you that night? What was the city like?
It was a shock, we never had a curfew here in Memphis or in other city’s except during the world war when we were kids. People stayed home. Everybody was talking about it. People were afraid to go out; we thought that the blacks would become rioting. The news on the radio is always worse than it was actually is. You could not believe that in Memphis, Tennessee, this can happen or that anyone would do something like that. People had a gun. Who ever had a gun were keeping it handy, and if they didn’t, anyone who tried to get one did. We reacted with shock.... We are really sorry it happened but there isn't anything we could do about it. It did not change our lives. After one or two nights it went away.”
Did life change at all after his death? Did people act different or view problems differently? Do you think people’s attitudes changed?
“We were just becoming aware of him on the talk show. I think we were worried about the segregation had been going on for several years in America and we took it for granted and we felt it was the wrong thing to do and we thought he was a good leader. As we look back we can see he changed the world but at the time we didn't realize what the celebrities was until it happens in history you don’t know exactly what is happening until you look back a decade or a quarter of a century, you make more sense out of it and that was about it until you learn about it. We thought that we were being nice to the black people but we weren't. We felt how the back people felt.”