Wisdom from MLK, Jr.
“Men often hate each other be- cause they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The collection of sentences above is one of the most famous Martin Luther King quotes in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. In presenting this idea, Dr. King was writing about the separation of rac- es and the infringement upon civil liberties. For centuries, the United States practiced slavery; once this practice was abolished, people of minority races still faced large- scale discrimination. Many argue, and rightly so, that though we have come far in terms of racial equality we still have much left to do. This is how Dr. King justified much of this prejudice, by explaining a hierarchy of issues that are all interconnected.
There are a variety of ways in which we can apply this quote to our lives here at St. Lawrence. With caution to not offend any of my fel- low classmates, I will discuss my ex- periences here and at home where I believe Dr. King’s words apply.
We can all agree that there are specific and basic criteria that would qualify someone as a minority in the United States. Essentially, such a person would not belong to the majority religious, racial, gen- dered or ethnic makeups of the United States. This is the same for Quebec, my native province. In the context of the United States, I belong to the majority racial makeup as a Caucasian. Generally, I am not discriminated against in this country because, despite the fact that I am Jewish, my minority status is difficult to identify unless I explain my religious identification. However, in my home province, I am considered a minority and my status is obvious because of my religion and because my language of origin in a French society is English.
I would like to touch upon is this idea of separation. People of mi- nority status around the world have experienced this in many ways. For example, I feel a strong separation from my home culture because I do not fit perfectly within the majority groups of our citizens. I feel strongly separated at SLU as both a Jew and an international student. I also feel very separated from other minority groups on campus who might not understand the implications of my own minority status.
Though I do not believe my fellow classmates hate me, I feel that issues of separation aren’t dis- cussed among my peers as much as they could be, which is the main cause for misunderstand- ing those who might be outside of our majority student makeup. We do not always discuss what is re- ally going on at St. Lawrence and other institutions, and so we feel separated and maybe we even dis- like the opinions of others with- out concrete reasoning. Dr. King’s words go far beyond the Civil Rights Movement. People are uncomfortable with each other, and though we can pinpoint why this might be, we do not express this clearly and openly. Our diverse sets of students, myself included, are having a very hard time here. This needs to change. Let’s talk, SLU.