Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King from an American teenager

I thought about you earlier this month as I headed down to Selma for the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march. I was not able to be there in 1965 but you came alive for me during my trip and I wanted to share some reflections on my journey.

Martin, in my 18 years of experience I have learned that you won the battle, but the war is far from over. Many laws have changed; unfortunately, some still remain. Many people have changed their ways; some remain the same. I spent the weekend exploring the streets of Birmingham and Selma, two battlefields from the civil rights movement. As I strode through Birmingham’s Freedom Park I couldn’t help but stare at statues frozen in time: two kids with their backs against the wall, policemen with firehoses mounted for warfare pointed their way; three ministers praying on what seemed to be their last legs; and a trio of attack dogs, snarling through their teeth at whoever walked by.

As I took a second lap around Freedom Park, Rep. John Lewis’ (D-Ga.) voice boomed in the background, speaking to a crowd outside of the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum. Yes, the same John Lewis who walked across that bridge with you many years ago. He’s a congressman now, along with 43 other black men and women. I finished my lap as Lewis finished his speech. I had braved the perils frozen in time yet one memorial remained: a police officer holding a young African American by his collar while a police dog snarled at the boy’s feet. And just around the corner was a sight so profound I stopped short.

Right in front of me was a real police officer with a real dog, a poignant reflection of the metallic demon behind me. And in front of him were two elderly black women, perfectly calm, kneeling down and stroking the dog’s head, murmuring softly to him. The dog bared no teeth, the cop shouted no slurs and in Birmingham, Alabama, feet away from the site where 50 years ago four black girls were murdered in a church, two elderly black women stood  next to a police officer and his attack dog, talking about the weather and his well-behaved K-9.

So yes, Martin, things are a little different than they used to be. As our second term black president said at the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march:  “If you think nothing’s changed in the past fifty years, ask somebody who lived through the Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the Fifties.”  Dr. King, America is not perfect when it comes to race and it most likely never will be, but our drive for that imperfect perfection manifests itself in our drive to fulfill the American dream for all Americans; to ensure that everyone, whether black, white, Latino, male or female, has an equal chance for success in this country no matter their draw in the genetic lottery. Dr. King, the world may not be perfect, but the fact that since 1970, the black infant mortality rate has decreased fourfold and the percentage of black high school graduates has increased by more than 30 percent is progress.  There are still laws to be changed and opinions to be revised; let’s just hope people are willing to rise to the occasion.

Lewis lives in Washington, D.C. and is a senior at Georgetown Day School.