a pioneer, gone

Whenever I see footage of the first black students entering the University of Alabama in 1963, or similar shots from the Little Rock public school system a few years earlier, I shake my head. I can't believe the hatred in some of the bystanders' eyes, and I can't imagine the courage of the students walking thru that gauntlet. It's like scenes from another planet or another era, not from my country in my lifetime.

One of the brave students, Vivian Malone Jones, died today.

Jones forgave George Wallace when they met in 1996. She was probably a better person than me, because I'm not sure I could have.