The Courage To Change

If you think you can’t change, then change the way you think. I heard that remark while listening to a eloquent speech on the UCTV station’s satellite feed given my Terrance Roberts at the University of California at San Diego. Who is Terrance Roberts? He was one of the nine black students who began attending classes at Little Rock’s Central High School back during the time of Arkansas’s school desegregation, mandated by Congress and acted upon by President Eisenhower. Back then, the nation‘s leaders had to call out the National Guard to maintain law and order.
This courageous man recounted what he went through to further his education in a section of the country that, at that time, was as racist as any in the world. Many times young Roberts was beaten by gangs of white students during those chaotic times and on several incidents he narrowly escaped with his life. There was plenty of hard times to go around. But he survived. And not only did he survive he managed to wring out a whole hosts of positive examples in the process that would serve him well throughout his life. Instead of being bitter, Roberts turned the incident around and looked at how, because of his small group’s gutsy act, racism gradually subsided in that part of the South.
Taking time off from his teaching duties at Antioch College, he went back to Little Rock recently and gave a series of presentations on his experiences during those troubling times. He told his audience how well-meaning white folks would approach him and try to prod him into admitting that those times were really not all that terrible. His response was, “Oh, yes they were. They were much more than terrible, but I didn’t let that destroy me. I wanted to attend a more affluent high school in order to get a better education that I literally was willing to give up my life. And yes, for me, those times were definitely terrifying. Don‘t kid yourself into thinking otherwise”
Terrance Roberts is only one of an untold mass of courageous individuals who spread truth wherever they go. They work in relative silence, helping their communities, raising their families, and doing what they can to make this a better world. They go so far as to be willing to die for something that benefits their ideals.
Hats off to Mr.Terrance Roberts and all the other honest citizens of this country. The truth will always set you free.