Part of a series of student roundtables on a variety of issues the South Brunswick Post is holding with students at South Brunswick High School.
By: Sharlee Joy DiMenichi
Some South Brunswick High School students said they have The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to thank for making interracial friendships possible and for raising the public image of black Americans.
A forum of students from Junior State of America, the high school debate club, met Friday at the request of the South Brunswick Post to reflect on the legacy of the slain civil rights leader whose holiday is observed on Monday.
Many of the students said they admired Dr. King’s eloquence, nonviolence and contributions to racial equality. Two 11th-grade girls said they admire Dr. King for more individual reasons.
"What I respect him more for is a little bit more personal to me because my group of friends is very integrated," said junior Jane Epelbaum, who is white.
Jane sat next to her close friend, junior Keiko Cummings, who is black, a seating arrangement that would have been prohibited under the rules of racial segregation that governed southern schools. Without Dr. King’s protests, Jane said, segregation would have kept students like her and Keiko apart.
"I probably would not have met her," Jane said.
In addition to the freedom to have friends of all races, Keiko said she was grateful for the positive image of black Americans that Dr. King helped to create.
"It showed white people that black people could think. It kind of gave us a voice that wasn’t always fighting but that was more reasonable," Keiko said.
In addition to considering how Dr. King shaped public perceptions of back Americans, the students discussed how education has shaped young people’s perceptions of him.
Several students said that while they recalled hearing about Dr. King in elementary school, they did not begin to understand his legacy until their early teens.
"Toward middle school is when I really began to gain my awareness on the subject," said ninth-grader Vivek Gupta.
Students said they learned about Dr. King through videos of his speeches, reading his letters and essays and by doing classroom activities to simulate segregation. One 10th-grade girl said she found watching documentaries in class the most engaging way to learn about Dr. King.
"In addition to hearing his actual speeches, where you can hear his actual inflection and how moving he was, there were also a lot of experts talking about who he was," said sophomore Madeline Orton.
Some students said regardless of which instructional method teachers use, study of Dr. Martin Luther King is often segregated from the rest of the history curriculum, which makes it difficult to place him in a larger context.
"Unless it’s February, we’re not really learning about Martin Luther King," said junior Amin Gillespie, referring to Black history Month.
Teachers that emphasize Dr. King’s civil rights convictions while excluding his opposition to the Vietnam War, also restrict the learning of students who wish to fully understand Dr. King, students said.
"He’s been portrayed as a black leader, but they don’t really paint a true picture of him. They dishonor him in a way," said junior Stefan Sabo.
Others expressed similar sentiments.
"They just teach us what they want to teach us. They just paint a pretty picture," said junior Paul Cooper.
Pupils said they wished to understand the many dimensions of Dr. King.
"I want the non-sugared version," said sophomore Ann Alexandrowicz.