The first Martin Luther King Day

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day. When he was killed, I had just moved to Panama City, Florida. I had been hired to teach in the local high school. On the day of King's funeral, very few, if any, of the black kids came to school . . . when they returned to school the next day, their reason for missing was "to attend a funeral". We (the faculty) had been advised to totally avoid the subject of Martin Luther King in class (can you imagine?). I found it impossible to do. All my classes had rip-roaring discussion.

Gary told me that his company used to excuse workers for MLK Day . . . but they were really upset if any white guys didn't come to work. Again, amazing.