Eyewitness speaks of King's dream

Nearly 100 people gathered at Rock Island Arsenal's Heritage Hall Wednesday to hear the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from an eyewitness to one of his speeches.

Deborah Taylor, the former global diversity and inclusion director for John Deere and Co., was the keynote speaker for the Rock Island Arsenal Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Workshop and Observance Luncheon.

Taylor said the theme of the event, "Remember, Celebrate, Act - a Day On, not a Day Off" resonated with her own experience.

"His intent and goal was equal treatment for blacks under the law. I wonder how much of his dream he would see to be alive today," she said. "The goal was not to change the Constitution, but to change the behavioral interpretation of the Constitution; to have the guarantee of equality, but without 'separate but equal'."

Taylor said it was a privilege for her to attend the Sunday School and Baptist National convention in 1963, where she heard King speak.

"It was the first time I experienced blatant discrimination," she said. "It was also where I learned ministers tell the truth. Our minister said 'listen to this man - you'll remember it the rest of your life." He also said, 'one day he'll be very famous.' And all of that was true," Taylor said.

Of King, Taylor said he was a charismatic speaker.

"His appearance and delivery were remarkable. He spoke of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Constitution, and said he was about to lead the greatest demonstration in history," she said.

"He did not paint black people as victims, but as American patriots who believed in democracy," Taylor said.

She said many of the changes King desired have happened. "When my husband and I talk about things we lived through, our grown son thinks we're talking about a foreign country."

Even so, Taylor said much needs to be done to realize King's dream.

"We look around today and we have an Africa-American president in Barack Obama. But it took his candidacy to get a lot of us to get out and vote," she said. "Segregation still exists, but now it is a segregation of the poor from the affluent."

Taylor decried failings in education among minorities.

"There is a 50 percent dropout rate among Black and Hispanic students, she said."That has a huge impact on our communities. And 60 percent of the faces in our jails are black or brown. In our communities, we have a 70 percent out-of-wedlock birth rate. I wonder what Dr. King would think about that," Taylor said.

Taylor said all Americans should work together to address these problems.

"We need to stop finger-pointing and appreciate the opportunities of the equal workplace that Dr. King gave us," she said. "There are too many ways in which we're all alike. We all need sustenance, housing and clothing, and an equality gap still exists. All humanity is our brother regardless of status or wealth, or lack of it."

Taylor said King would see much work to be done today.

"The easy things are done, and now we need to do the hard things to keep the dream alive. It is time to move from to reality." she said.

Related Links:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.