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In honor of King

Events direct message to younger generation

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While adults walked briskly in marches Monday on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton to commemorate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., some children skated past them in gym shoes equipped with plastic wheels.

For the children and young adults at Monday's marches, the civil rights movement is something they've only read about in history books. So it might seem fitting that some youngsters seemed more concerned about losing their balance on the heels of their trendy skate shoes, then about the struggle that allowed them to play together, regardless of race.

"I think they have a clue about the purpose," of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, said Bluffton resident Gwenita Jenkins, whose 7-year-old niece skated through downtown Bluffton with a life-size cutout of King's photograph tied around her neck. "But the unfortunate part is they have what they want already, so they don't know what it's like not to have."

As society becomes further removed from the days when Jim Crow signs hung over drinking fountains and blacks were directed to the back of the bus, it becomes more challenging to make children appreciate the struggle for civil rights.

In his last visit with the late Coretta Scott King, St. Helena Island resident John Henderson Cartwright recalls discussing ways to ensure that the federal holiday celebrating her husband's life and legacy doesn't become just another day off work. Cartwright, who helped found the Martin Luther King Jr. Afro American Center at Boston University, addressed more than 150 people Monday during a memorial program at Hilton Head High School.

"Many of our young people have no appreciation for the degradation and the hurt that (the civil rights movement) entailed," Cartwright said, adding that adults must "share understanding of where we're coming from and where we don't want them to go."

The holiday should be more than a celebration, he said. It should be a time when people assess progress in areas such as housing and employment and take action to improve areas where society is lagging.

"We today find ourselves more prone to praise Martin Luther King than to follow him," Cartwright said.

Before Cartwright's speech, more than 250 people walked from Hilton Head High School and down William Hilton Parkway before returning to the school for the program. Traffic was diverted around marchers for about 30 minutes. The event was organized by the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Planning Committee, a nonprofit that meets year-round to plan the program and other community events.

"We carry this on to remind folks of the trials and tribulations that it took to get where we are today," said committee chairman Mel Campbell. "There's still a lot of grounds for improvement, but we continue to carry on traditions."

Back at the Bluffton celebration, several fifth- and sixth-grade boys waited outside First Zion Church for the march downtown to begin. Asked what they knew about King, 10-year-old Cedrick Greene said: "He's a hero to me because he stopped racism."

But his friend, 10-year-old Oba Bruin, quickly corrected him: "He didn't stop racism, but he made it better."

"He stopped some of it," Greene happily agreed.

Contact Ginny Skalski at 706-8144 or . To comment on this story, please go to islandpacket.com.

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