• Pocono Mountain students speak of King legacy's relevancy today, and what he'd think of society now

  • It's been nearly 46 years since the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who championed the American civil rights movement and played a role in changing the nation's conscience on how all people, regardless of race, should be treated.
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    In those 46 years, a new generation of young people have come of age in a society where the United States now has a black president, but where discrimination remains visible — particularly against same-gender couples and people from certain foreign lands.
    With this in mind, what do some American teenagers today think about King's legacy and whether it's still relevant?
    The Pocono Record recently interviewed four Pocono Mountain West High School seniors.
    Nneka Van Gronigen and Chiana Fladger, both 17 and African-American, are Coolbaugh Township residents, as is Tiffany Sahadeo, 17, whose family is from the Pacific Islands. Nicholas Paesano, 18, of Tobyhanna Township, has Italian, Polish and Czechoslovakian roots.
    Van Gronigen plans to major in communications at Penn State or Temple University and go into human relations. Sahadeo will study biology and pre-med at Lehigh University to become a doctor. Fladger is interested in photography and attending Temple University or Philadelphia's Art Institute, while Paesano's looking to head to Drexel University for math, secondary education and business marketing.
    Here's what each had to say.
    Q: Have you personally experienced or witnessed someone else experience any form of discrimination?
    Van Gronigen: "I've seen it happen, but more toward women and same-gender couples. Our generation now is a lot more accepting, but some are still iffy on gays and lesbians."
    Sahadeo: "I've seen more cultural discrimination than anything else. We're a nation built on immigrants who've come here for better lives for themselves and their children, but some are not accepted by others who've been here longer."
    Fladger: "My friend from Texas visited us for Christmas and talked about how students in her school still group themselves together by race. Each race segregates itself from the others by choice, and there's very little interaction if any. She's Latino, but looks white, and she was talking about how other students called her 'cracker' when she was younger."
    Paesano: "When I was in fourth grade, some of us thought my teacher was sexist toward boys, who wouldn't be allowed to get away with certain things the girls would get away with. At least, that's how it seemed to some of us. I have an outgoing, joking, boisterous personality that some find overwhelming or even weird. A few times, I've joked around by acting effeminate, which has made some people think I'm homosexual. Some kids called me a 'faggot' when I was in the sixth through eighth grades, but I'm not. It's just part of the type of sense of humor I have."
    Q: If King were still alive and as active today, where do you think his focus would lie?
    Van Gronigen: "On equality among all social classes. Not so much on race, since society's now more accepting of interracial couples and relationships. He would be focused on preserving and improving equality for all people."
    Sahadeo: "I think his focus would include cultural as well as racial and gender discrimination. He'd be happy with how far we've come and proud to see a black president in office, but he'd see more progress is still needed in certain areas."
    Fladger: "I think he'd focus on overall acceptance and equality for all people. There are people who preach accepting others, but don't practice what they preach."
    Paesano: "I think he'd recognize gays and lesbians have faced just as much discrimination because of their sexual preference. However, since he had deep Christian religious beliefs, I do wonder if he'd let what the Bible says about homosexuals stop him from standing up for them as much as for other oppressed groups. I like to think not. I like to think he'd realize equal rights for 'all' means just that."
    Q: How would you react if you witnessed someone being discriminated against?
    Van Gronigen: "I'd say something. People are entitled to their own opinions, but open discrimination of any type is wrong."
    Sahadeo: "I'd tell the person being discriminated against that they shouldn't take it. I'd then tell the person discriminating that they shouldn't do it. We're all different. But, at the end of the day, we're all of one race, the human race, and our hearts all pump the same red blood."
    Fladger: "I'd be in protective mode for the person being discriminated against. My mom used to live in Georgia and remembers not being able to go to public parks or other places because of the KKK. She raised me to do the right thing, so I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone being discriminated against. I'd try to help."
    Paesano: "I'd stand up for them, but not in a violent way because violence never leads to a good resolution. I'd tell the person being discriminated against to not let themselves be defined by the derogatory opinions of others. I'd tell them violence shouldn't be their first or only reaction."
    Q: How would you play your own part in keeping King's legacy alive?
    Van Gronigen: "By showing everyone it's OK to be different and treating everyone equally. We should all work toward a more peaceful world where everyone is accepted for who they are."
    Sahadeo: "By not discriminating against anyone. And by not repeating the mistakes of the past so that the future can be brighter and better."
    Fladger: "I'd try to be more accepting of all people's differences. In the end, we all have basic similarities in what we want in life. Just because someone's different doesn't mean they're better or worse than anyone else. It's about personalities, not what anyone looks like or where they're from."
    Paesano: "Again, by standing up in a peaceful, nonviolent way and encouraging others to do the same when they see injustice, as Dr. King did."
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