It was January 2011 and my son was in the third grade. His class was learning about Martin Luther King Jr. DAY -- he and I had already talked about Martin Luther King Jr on at least two occasions prior to his class lesson and when my son came I asked him what he learned and he said, "Mom, my teacher said that Martin Luther King Jr was murdered but I remember you said a different word?" I remember I laughed and said "Oh sure I said he was assassinated because he was" and even now remembering that moment raises my blood pressure a little because I was offended by the mis-education or by the disregard for vocabulary. We then spent some time talking about what MLK stood for and the politics of MLK's beliefs and when I had to explain to him at age 8 that some people are hired to make sure those beliefs don't become too popular -- that MLK was killed for political reasons, to keep a system of separation/racism in place -- because MLK was killed for his beliefs is why his murder is an assassination and not simply a murder.
When I spoke to my sons teacher about it she said that she didn't find it appropriate to teach children that you can be killed for what you believe in. I then suggested to her that she not teach that MLK was murdered at all and that instead they teach what MLK believed in -- meaning, teach my child that MLK was a brave man who believed that everyone should be treated the same, not by color but by character -- take it a step further and teach my child about the importance of character. I would much prefer that than for my son to simply come home knowing that MLK was murdered.
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