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Dear Editor,

Martin Luther King’s speech on August 28, 1963 became the landmark statement, the goal of civil rights in America, that all people, people of all races and colors and backgrounds, would share in an America marked by freedom and democracy. When voting rights were obtained for those legally registered as citizens, ideally his dream was obtainable. Of course just being able to vote will not get one a life of ease and fulfillment unless the voting citizen is willing and able to put forth effort to use the strengths and abilities the Maker of us all has given him. Those abilities certainly vary and then, things like birth family and location affect lives also.

Last fall, my husband, a priest at Christ the King, and I joined ministers from other churches in Selma to greet Selma High Students on Wednesdays and have a Bible study before school. This is enjoyable in many ways and certainly puts us in touch with the students. For me, a 1965 graduate of Albert G. Parrish High School here in Selma, it brings back many memories and causes me to ask questions. Nostalgic in that Selma High is laid out physically the way Parrish High was….auditorium, central stairwell, library, the office and front of school all in basically the same place as 60 years ago! And on the back wall of the Selma High library stands the concrete front of Parrish High with the cement inscription of our name on it….i.e., the actual doorway to Parrish High all those years. I am glad there are many similarities between the two schools.

Several differences exist that were not in place in 1965. One huge difference is that all the students now enter through the cafeteria doors at the end of the Selma High building and walk through a metal detector. There is a guard present and the students must have their belongings looked at also and must have a see through backpack if one is used. A second difference between 2025 students and those of us 60 years ago is that almost every one of these students have cellphones and are communicating with their device more so than with each other. The cell phone may be seen being held or there will be earbuds in place. They seem to only have friends on their devices. Also, most of them get a morning meal in the cafeteria. Not even sure our cafeteria opened at breakfast in 1965.

Our HS 60 years ago was the White HS in Selma. RB Hudson was the Black HS at that time, or perhaps the language would have said Colored HS. Either way there was segregation of the two predominant races in 1965. If I read the law correctly, the Civil rights Act of 1964 was not being followed here because it prohibited discrimination in education based on race or color. In talking with my husband, a Nashvillian, I learned that Nashville and many cities in the US maintained segregated school systems many years post the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling which should have done away with racial segregation in education. 1965 was the year of the Selma to Montgomery march for Voting Rights. It accomplished its purpose and equal voting rights were obtained for all citizens. However, in Selma and other cities throughout the nation, there was no enforcement of the 1954 law and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting the racial segregation in the public schools. Has this harmed our country as a whole? YES. Instead of pointing fingers and blaming, let’s see what we can do to work together to be to each other the way we should be according to the “rules”, “laws”, “commandments” put forth in God’s Holy Bible in which, I believe, the majority of us put our trust. You know the second greatest one is LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. So, do we?

My husband and I just attended the Meet and Greet at the Coffee Shoppe for Dr. David Scott, SCS Superintendent. Thank you, Jackie Smith, for providing this to us all. I know many in the room wondered why this old white lady was there! It is because I have a dream….this phrase has been on my heart ever since I started this letter in early April. My dream started as I was thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Speech and researching it. I was 16, soon to enter the eleventh grade at A.G. Parrish when he made it. I surely do wish that good man had not been killed. It would be really interesting to see how his dream would be being pressed into being in our hearts if he had lived. In researching Dr. King’s speech, I found this: “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had originally prepared a short and somewhat formal recitation of the sufferings of African Americans attempting to realize their freedom in a society chained by discrimination. He was about to sit down when gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out, ‘Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!’ Encouraged by shouts from the audience, King drew upon some of his past talks, and the result became the landmark statement of civil rights in America—a dream of all people, of all races and colors and backgrounds, sharing in an America marked by freedom and democracy.”

Remember, Dr. King was the “young and charismatic leader” of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. That fact alone is impressive. Would I be wrong in thinking that, had he lived, the Christian way of carrying out the laws put in place in 1954 and ignored for many years until the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March and even then, several years following…would have been better, that today his dream would be flourishing without all the blaming and shaming that happens, without the changing of standards of right and wrong being changed, without some of our nation’s history being ignored to the detriment of us all. Fellow citizens of Selma, again, believers in the Bible which says in Romans 3:23, “..for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So, Selma and Dallas County Citizens, let us repent of mistreating a beleaguered race in the past, for blaming and shaming and demanding when we have been given opportunities to reach dreams, let us live by this excerpt from Dr. King’s 1963 speech, ” We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate in to physical violence…the marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.”

It was good to hear Dr. David Scott, our new superintendent of the Selma City Schools. The dream that I have, that has come forth this spring, may never happen, but I see, after hearing him, that it could happen, not only in the local school systems, but in our city as a whole. My dream is that the schools in Selma and Dallas County would prepare their students to live productive and good lives, pursuing dreams they have or were introduced to while in school, as I was prepared, having completed 12 years in the Selma City School System. Yes, I am the product of the old segregated system. But, I do believe with the right leadership educationally and with community involvement, the schools can be racially integrated and flourishing as they did before the upheaval of the early 90s. Dr. Scott is a step in the right direction toward this.

I completed my letter today titled “I Have a Dream” to let Dr. Scott know why this old white lady was at his meeting today taking notes and not saying a word. I really wanted to raise my hand and say “I have a dream for the Selma City Schools to be successfully integrated and flourishing”, but I choked up, even got my handkerchief out, every time I thought of saying it. So much is at stake in our city depending on our lives and reactions to and relationships with each other.

I was really encouraged hearing Dr. Scott speak of the challenges he faces and what he expects of the employees he serves. Accountability was big in his list …taking ownership of the areas for which one is responsible. Relationships were something he repeatedly mentioned also, between him and his employees, him and his employees and the students and parents they all serve. It was encouraging to me to hear of three very forward thinking seniors from SHS recently contacting Dr. Scott to bring ideas of ways to make things better for those following behind them in the lower grades. Oh, that was really heart warming to hear.

Yes, there are private schools locally. I was thankful when Morgan Academy became integrated. I know there will be opportunities in the newly forming Ellwood Christian Academy and its participation in the buildUP Program. I wish none of these schools had hard times, but wouldn’t it be good for us all if we all worked together on the level playing field that our laws have provided, treating each other as Dr. King stated in his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. I believe he hears my heart and understands it. Let us all, as brothers and sisters in Christ, work together to bring it about from Selma, for Selma, and for the good of all. This would bring honor to LLC…Living Like Caden.

Gail Box Ingram
Valley Grande