From My White Father to His Black Children on MLK Day 2009.

From: Morgan, Marshall
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 2:31 PM
To: John, Terrence, Monique, Tad and Courtney
Subject: feelings

I have been thinking about the meaning of today and tomorrow all day, near tears a lot of the time.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and tomorrow Barack Obama will become President. I'm sure I have told you this before, but if anyone had told me in 1968 that I would live to see Dr. King's birthday become a national holiday or a Black man be elected President, I would not have believed it, and I would have thought the person was unbalanced, or incredibly optimistic. I personally remember seeing segregated restrooms and water fountains. I saw cops assault and beat peaceful demonstrators at the Civic Center in Chicago. I remember when schools were segregated by law. I remember clearly the days when freedom riders were beaten & killed in the South and when the great leaders John, Martin, Malcolm and Bobby were assassinated. It was a terrible time. It was frightening.

I think the feeling pushing the tears is a combination of pride and relief: relief that things didn't continue to go the way they seemed to be going, and pride in our country for having been able to move so far so fast. There is still an enormous amount to be done. Tremendous injustice and inequality still exist. We are once again involved in an unwinnable, evil war in which we are the aggressors. That said, we have come a long way. I am proud of my nation and its people.

I am proud of my children, and I love you.

Dad