Photograph by Robert Scheer
Martin Luther King III speaks to Fremont High School students.
By ANNE GELHAUS
A few years after his famous father was assassinated, Martin Luther King III lost his grandmother to a gunman, who shot and killed her as she was playing the organ in church.
Despite the anger he felt as a result of his losses, King did not answer violence with violence.
"My father had a strong spiritual and moral foundation. Thank God, I do, too. I decided not to let anyone reduce me to hatred," he told students at an April 24 assembly at Fremont High School.
King, whose appearance was sponsored by Fremont's conflict-resolution team, said the violence in today's society needs to be addressed in the classroom through ethics courses.
"It needs to start in nursery school and go through college," he added. "We can't just campaign to stop violence. Our curriculum needs to be strengthened and changed. We should be studying all the people who make up American history."
King, who runs a center for nonviolence in Atlanta, said he'd like to see modern society embrace the philosophy of peace his father preached during the civil rights movement.
"We can resolve our problems if we work together collectively," he said, adding that students can join their peers at other schools to resolve issues that affect their community at large. "The first step is to believe it can be done."
In response to a student's question, King acknowledged that he's had some big shoes to fill in carrying on his father's work.
"To make a contribution as great or greater than his is difficult," he said, "but mostly, it's been a great honor to carry his name."
Another student asked whether King thought America would ever be a peaceful, unified society. "I certainly hope so," he responded. "Some people think the pendulum is swinging in a negative direction, and it's got to come back around. It has to do with us not respecting our fellow human beings. In this country, we preach peace, but we practice war.
"Man's got to learn to respect every culture," King continued. "If that happens, we may be able to reduce the level of violence in our society. Something's going to have to happen that causes all of us to embrace each other."
King said he was scheduled to speak at the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., last fall, but he had to cancel due to an emergency. He added that he supported the concept of the march, organized by Louis Farrakhan to bring African American men together.
"It's not a movement of separatism," King said. "I think every community has to take responsibility for itself."
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 1, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.