On pages 223 and 224, Carlotta mentions several historical events including the March on Washington, where Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech; the bombing of the 16th Street Church in Birmingham, Alabama; and the assassination of President Kennedy. What are Carlotta's reactions to these events? What might account for Carlotta's different reactions to them?

Carlotta seems to be removed from the events. She describes her reaction to the March  on Washington like this: “I had no burning desire to participate in a march that seemed  to me then purely symbolic,” but then she felt how powerful it was when she saw the  thousands of people on television. However, when Carlotta heard about the 16th Street  Church bombing and President Kennedy’s assassination, she was horrified.  

It seems like her reaction to the March on Washington reflected her experience—a  march by itself didn’t seem to mean much after her time at Central High School where  she faced so much discrimination. Upon hearing the news of the 16th Street Church  bombing, however, she said, “I knew that the same fate so easily could have been  mine.” She identified with the victims in that case. Similarly, President Kennedy’s  assassination made her reflect on her experiences, saying “his life extinguished by the  same kind of hatred that had been so rampant in Little Rock. I wondered how—and  sometimes why—I survived.”

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