Bernard Laffer

Martin Luther King,    I grew up in a very working class housing project in Coney Island, Brooklyn, NYC. This was first  wave of converting many New York City neighborhoods to institutional style housing . The funny thing is that Coney Island Projects was a distinct step up for my family. These days projects have a negative image. Today’s projects are riddled with crime, neglect and urban blight. To my generation they represented functional plumbing, hot water and heat, well maintained grounds, beautifull parks and most important  many children to play with. The children came in all shapes , sizes, religions and colors. Coney Island Projects was a modern melting pot. As a young boy it made me color blind. Many of my friends, neighbors and teachers were black and brown. We really did not know  the difference. Who cared what color or religion a kid was when you were looking for that extra person to play stickball, basketball or tag around the projects. We might have been different but we were really the same. None of our families had money. We all lived day to day and week to week. I could not think of any kid whose family owned a private home. I am sure there were a few but not many. It honestly made things easier. There was “ no keeping up with the Joneses” because the Joneses had nothing to keep up with, On looking back I realize that Martin Luther King advocated and fought for us all.  If we trace our roots  all of our ancestors came to the USA  ON A BOAT OR PLANE. Some came here forcibly and others came here because they were looking for a better life. My parents lived in cold water flats located in old apartment buildings on the Lower East Side of NYC. Most of the buildings had little in the way of public services. Eventually people organized to demand better treatment.   I was part of the original racial school busing. We were bused out of the multi racial, poorly run Coney Island  schools  into the better run  Bensonhurst public schools. I did not attend my neighborhood school until high school. This was because of Dr. Martin Luther King and his followers. I received a better education because Civil Rights activists demanded equality in education. I am white but I still benefited from Dr King’s actions. I think his actions were best displayed by the  variation of skin colors of the children in my school bus.  That  was the bus took us from  impoverished Coney Island to middle class Bensonhurst on a daily basis. The baus cared all of our families hopes and dreams.  All I can say to Dr King is THANK YOU FOR CARING.