Article October 10, 2005 Issue

TURN OFF THE 'EVENING NEWS BLUES'

By David Robertson

In 1968, I was involved with a commission in New York State whose goal was to reduce racial intolerance among young people. Although I followed civil rights news carefully, I didn't hear that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been assassinated until I was on the train the next morning, on my way to a meeting of this commission in New York City.

I'd spent many hours on the commission, helping to develop steps toward improving racial relations, so when I heard this news, I felt things were hopeless. The work we had done suddenly seemed to be going nowhere. I got off the train and headed to the meeting feeling numb.

The Governor, who was at the meeting, was a good friend of Dr. King, and while he was deeply saddened, his remarks pointed to the work yet to be done. This idea helped start my healing process.

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