Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
A Spokane, Wash., parade to commemorate the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and to remember all those who were part of his struggle is apparently so scary that someone or some group decided to relive the horror of the Birmingham, Ala., bombing by planting an improvised explosive device (pictured above) along the route.
Do we know who did it? No. Do we really know what the motive is? No, not yet, although the most popular speculation was that it was -- you guessed it -- racial.
But no matter who did it or why, it is clear that what Dr. King stood for is still a threat more than half a century after he began his teachings.
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In 1963, four white men -- all members of a Ku Klux Klan group -- planted an improvised explosive device under the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham during a time of integration in that town.
When it exploded, it killed four young black girls whose crime was coming to church to sing a hymn.
The church had become a center of reconciliation and a place where people of all colors could find common ground until four men, who were hell-bent on making sure peace would never happen, decided that making their mark on history was more important.
Fast-forward to 2011.
Three Spokane city workers find a backpack with an improvised explosive device, a remote-controlled bomb and two T-shirts in it. They were smart enough to alert police, who defused it without incident.
Thank God.
That part is over. No one hurt. No one dead. No four little girls this time.
But let's focus on the intent for a minute.
Officials say the device was sophisticated enough to have caused massive damage. One even said it was the most potentially destructive bomb he'd ever seen. Now, without pointing a finger at anyone in particular, whoever did this did so with the intention of seeing maximum carnage -- as did the men involved in the 1963 bombing.
The takeaway here is that a place where black and white hands grasped one another in gestures of reconciliation in 1963 was a threat to what is right. It was an affront to some imagined status quo, where one group arrogantly believes all others should be subservient.
Not to the same men, because all but one have died and he will die in prison, but it was a threat to a new generation of people who hate peace.
Are they racists?
The area is known for white supremacist activity, but no one has claimed responsibility, and there can be no pointing of fingers at least until a suspect is in custody. But two things are for certain: First, the person or people who did this are as low as the men who sought to kill children over a psychotic point of view and second, unlike before, the people who did this failed.
At the time of the Birmingham bombing, a storm was started after the children died and 22 others were injured. This storm grew into a hurricane whose gale forces broke the stride of those who wanted to repeat what had been done.
The three city workers who found the bomb and reported it must have said, "No, we won't let this happen. Not in our town. Not in our lives."
And this is what Dr. King wanted.
This is what he died for. He wanted so much momentum behind the rage in 1963 that it would thwart it from happening again.
So in trying to destroy Dr. King's legacy at a parade held in his honor, the would-be bomber actually preserved it.
Watch the sickness here: