MACOMB — When Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968, he left behind a powerful legacy – and much work still to be done.
That was the main message from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Inaugural Banquet, held Saturday night at the Spoon River College Outreach Center. The banquet was organized by the Mount Calvary Church of God in Christ to raise money for educational scholarships for college students in need. About 100 people attended the event.
Keynote speaker Reverend Clyde H. Brooks came straight to the point after his initial remarks. “This thing is not about a dinner. I want to make that clear. We’re here tonight, not because of a dinner, and we’re not here because of Dr. King even though we may think we are. We’re here to recommit ourselves to what Dr. King dreamed. And his dream has turned into an absolute nightmare. So we’re here to recharge our batteries, I hope.”
Brooks is the president of the Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations and is a Western Illinois University alumnus. He is a nationally-known speaker, analyst and consultant who worked with the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Chicago on affordable housing issues; was a representative to the White House Conference on Small Business; and founded the Minority Economic Resources Corporation, among his other accomplishments.
“As Dr. King would say – because he always acknowledged goodness – that we as man, with our helpmate, women, have achieved a great deal. We really have. We’ve come a long, long way. But I believe if Dr. King was standing here instead of me, I think he would acknowledge that, but he would always say that he’s very disappointed in the relationship and the way man has treated his fellow man.”
Brooks said he was concerned about the way other minority groups have been treated. “When I look at how we treat our Muslim brothers and sisters across this planet, I shudder. When I know in my heart there’s young Hispanic kids who are afraid to go to school because they are afraid the immigration officers will come and knock on their doors and take mommy and daddy away,” he said.
“When I think of the pain that is being created across this nation in the name of patriotism, my heart aches. And when I see too many of our leaders accused of sexual molestation — this doesn’t matter whether I’m democrat, republican or independent. This is man’s inhumanity to man.”
Brooks said the Christian church has failed in addressing these issues. “When we have millions of Americans who follow leaders who believe that this country was better off under slavery, and I hear the silence of God’s church, it hurts.”
Brooks attended Western Illinois University when there were very few African-American students. He experienced a number of racist incidents while living in the community.
He worked busing tables at the Lamoine Hotel. He said he and other black men were usually called “boy” no matter how old they were. “I’m talking about Macomb, Illinois,” he said.
Someone from the King-Seeley Thermos plant called him “boy” while he was on the job. When he objected, his manager took the other man’s side.
He told of another incident in which a peeping Tom with “bushy hair” was at large. He was taken outside without his coat, and interrogated for hours in a squad car by the part-time deputy sheriff, who was also his professor of psychology at the time.
He said all the other black male students were similarly questioned. The perpetrator ended up being the son of a well-known, white business leader. No apologies were ever made to the black students.
“This town was not good to folks like me,” he said.
He said the experiences helped drive him forward, and gave him the foundation he needed while working with Dr. King.
“That’s where I came from… If you haven’t been profiled because of the color of your skin, you don’t understand where I’m coming from.”
He also said that the community had come a long way from when he was a student at Western. He commented on the number of African American professors and administrators at WIU today. “I’ve painted the dark side of Macomb,” he said. “But look at Western today.”
He didn’t reserve his critique for white people only; he said King would have been concerned about complacency and division within the black community. “We still have a problem in this nation, both black and white. I learned very quickly: we can’t start blaming God and white folks for everything.”
He said he has never given up on the American ideal he grew up with: that all are created equal. But he said there was much work to be done to bring it to that ideal. He recommended crossing political boundaries to speak openly with people who disagree.
Dr. Brooks spoke to the Voice on that topic during an interview prior to the banquet.
“Africa is made up of white, black brown folks,” he said in reference to recent remarks by President Donald Trump. “He obviously sees it as a land of dark people. So when he says what he says about the people of Africa, we’re talking about criticism of the fatherland. How whites can remain so silent at what he said about Haiti — all Haitians have AIDS — you don’t have to be a democrat, you don’t have to be a republican, you don’t have to be nothing. If that doesn’t stir your soul…”
He continued. “I think we’re in a period of the browning of American people, and that’s why Trump was elected president,” he said, in reference to the changing demographics of the U.S. “…I think all of those who are opposed to Trump, like me, ought to go out and find a “Trump” and relate to them.”
He said some of his best friends used to be members of the John Birch Society.
The John Birch Society is a self-described conservative advocacy group supporting anti-communism and limited government. Many consider the group to be “far right,” and the group in the past opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“We don’t have to agree, O.K.? We can still relate to each other. We can disagree.”
He challenged Trump supporters to also “take the high road and reach out to folks who oppose. That’s the answer. We’ve got to bridge this divisiveness along race, culture, geography.”
Reach Michelle Langhout by email at mlanghout@mcdonoughvoice.com or follow her on Facebook.
