Ripples from the past

By: James LaFayette Jr

It is clear that we live in a quite turbulent time in our history, not only within our country but across the whole world. Recently, we have seen innumerable examples of violence. We’ve even noticed that some who once did not even consider the idea of violence have been radicalized and emboldened to commit terrible acts. But it’s important for us to remember that this is not something we should accept in our society, important for us to keep this trend from being normalized. Reasons like this are why I continue to look up to my grandfather, the great Rev Dr. Bernard La Fayette Jr – a pioneer of education in the principles of Kingian nonviolence – for inspiration and guidance throughout my life.

My grandfather was born in 1940, in the midst of statesanctioned segregation, racism, and discrimination in the American south. Less than a century earlier, the Confederacy lost a bloody battle in the pursuit of preserving the institution of slavery, but this didn’t change the societal issues at large that plagued the country. Formerly enslaved Americans, predominantly Black, still were trapped in the system of sharecropping. Just under 50 years before my grandfather was born, while Jim Crow laws dominated the south, the Supreme Court ruled that the insidious racial segregation laws were constitutional in the Plessy v Ferguson case.

Hence, my grandfather attended segregated schools and experienced numerous accounts of racism and discrimination. But what I admire about my grandfather is that he didn’t stand down to these injustices, but rather fought back against them. Despite all his past experiences, and a large group of society trying to tear him down, he stood firm. And it wasn’t just for himself – it was to correct a wrong that had been long endured by his predecessors, to stand up for people like him who were oppressed, and to ensure a future where nobody would have to experience this mistreatment again. Working with great men and women like James Lawson, Representative John Lewis, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, this journey proved to be successful, and in 1964, landmark Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed. My grandfather and his colleagues, through principles of nonviolence, taught the country, and the world, that we don’t have to accept inequality. Their actions paved the way for future generations to continue their work and keep moving towards a more equal society for everyone.

Being a Black man born in 2003, I certainly felt the ripples from my grandfather’s work. I was able to easily attend the same schools, use the same facilities, and gain equal opportunities as my peers who were white. In the grand scheme of the universe, I feel lucky to have been born in such a time and thankful for those who fought for this to be true, including my grandfather. However, as I grow up, it is clear to me that his work, and our work as a country, is not yet finished.

I frequently turn on the television to watch the news and stay updated about world events, and while there are many bright spots and great things happening every day, most of what I’ve seen has been worrying. Injustice around the world happens more frequently than we think, and the news and the internet highlight many cases of it. Police brutality, hate crimes, political polarization, extremism, and even war have been some of the most disturbing occurrences to come out of the past decade. While the intensity of these is daunting, I don’t consider these to be completely new. I remember that my grandfather and his peers experienced this too, and they fought back against it. When we see these injustices, we must use what we learned from history, what I learned from my grandfather. As a world, we must not fight violence with violence, but begin a worldwide call for peace. Like those who came before us, it’s up to us to correct the wrongs endured by our predecessors, to stand up for those who can’t defend themselves, and to create a new path for our future generations to walk on.