What would I do if this were the 60s?

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This morning we went to a beautiful church service. The whole space felt incredibly welcoming and warm: a woman in front of me helped me find the correct page we were reading from, and two others shook my hand to welcome me into the service, and everyone was invited to sing along in the closing songs. Afterwards, I saw the church in which MLK preached, and explored the exhibits in the King Center right next to the Ebenezer Church. What I saw there struck me. I watched a video of white teenagers speaking against the black students who were starting school in Little Rock. They said, “If they come, I’m leaving,” and, “They have their own school that’s just as good as ours, so I don’t see why they need to come here.” They continued to speak hurtful and hateful words, and I felt extremely unsettled. Being a white teenager, would I be like them if I were dropped into the 60s? What would my parents teach me? It’s easy to say now that I’d be there fighting and advocating, but I wonder if I’d really risk my easy life as a white person in America in order to further the Civil Rights Movement. Today made me incredibly grateful for those who were brave enough to risk everything for freedom and equality. I don’t know if I could’ve — or ever could — do the same, and that’s something I’ll be grappling with for sure.

-Noë

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