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The Garden Party
shymilfromchi

Dr. King's Terrifying Day in Chicago

shymilfromchi
12 years ago

Dr. King's birthday on January 15th, brought this day back into my memory.

It was a hot, humid day in August. I knew that Martin Luther King was in the city, but I had two small children who needed a lot of attention, and wasn't following the news much. We had been invited to a wedding later that afternoon and had forgotten to pick up a card. So Steve stayed with the babies while I walked to the card shop, about four blocks north of our home.

As I started back, I noticed quite a few small groups of people, mostly teenage boys and young men, walking quickly, very animated, laughing and talking loudly. That was unusual and puzzling. As I got closer to home, I could hear an ungodly roar, a noise different from anything I had ever heard before, coming from Marquette Park, a beautiful large park about a half mile south of our home. I finally realized what was happening to cause that unbelievable sound; Dr. King was leading a march to protest segregated housing and a very large crowd had gathered to confront him. As I hurried home, the sound of the mob seemed to grow ever louder, as if it where feeding upon itself.

I had not been raised here, but came to know that racism was rampant in this working class neighborhood. My brothers and I had been brought up to respect all races and religions, so this was a surprise to me when we moved here. Now, even after closing the door of our home behind me, and with all the windows closed, the noise level was so loud that it penetrated our home as if we were right there in the chaos going on in the park. I was glad that our children were so young that they couldn't question that howling sound.

I felt such frustration. I wanted to go and walk with Dr. King and show that not everyone in the neighborhood could tolerate that behavior. Steve gently blocked my path and said that it was too dangerous and he didn't want to raise our childrem by himself. I knew that he was right and family had to come first, but it was so hard to hear that sound and see on the television what was going on. The crowd was jeering, taunting, threatening, their faces contorted by excitement and hatred. Dr. King was hit on the head by a large rock, dazed and almost knocked down. Many of his followers were injured by bottles and rocks, including a Roman Catholic nun. Firecrackers going off added to the badlam. There was even a knife thrown which hit the neck of a white marcher. Some policmen were injured while trying to keep the crowd under control. It seemed to go on forever. Estimates vary as to the numbers of people with Dr. King from 350 to 700 people; there were many thousands in the mob.

It was terrible, that long-ago day. Everyday, we see in the media the cruel things that people do to each other, but it was so frightening to be an actual observer of what human beings are capable of doing. Mob violence is so powerful and unthinking; its a good thing that our present "occupy" movement is attempting to stay peaceful. I wonder if the drastic changes in our country have changed the outlook of any of the hostile people who were in the park on that day in 1966.

Dr. King was quoted as saying, that this was worse than anything that he had experienced in the south.

Nowadays, African-American folks, who might have had a cross burned in front of their house in those days, (it actually happened not too far from here) are living peacefully among us, thanks in part to Dr. King's bravery in Marquette Park that day.

Comments (8)

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