University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Visit MLK National Historic Site
September 20, 2013 | Football
By Bobby Hundley and Turner Walston, UNC Athletic Communications
After landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta Friday afternoon, the North Carolina football team made a stop at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site before continuing to the team hotel. For the Tar Heels, it was an opportunity to reflect - to be educated about the life of Dr. King and to be inspired by his incredible actions.
"This is powerful stuff," senior defensive tackle Tim Jackson said as he walked from Ebenezer Baptist Church to King's home. "I kind of took it for granted when I first heard we were coming here, but the atmosphere and the solitude, it's amazing. Just being able to walk the streets he walked, see the church pew he sat in and the pulpit he preached from, it's amazing."
Running backs coach and special teams coordinator Randy Jordan echoed Jackson's sentiments and pointed to the learning opportunity for his football team.
"I think the biggest thing for the young men is history," Jordan said. "If you can go to places like this and be able to experience going into the church and seeing the home of a man like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it makes you realize and appreciate all the things that you have here. Just the things he had to go through with the Civil Rights Movement...it makes you appreciate what you have an as individual in today's society."
The visit is especially powerful in 2013 - 50 years since the events of 1963, a significant year in the history of Dr. King and the struggle for racial equality. The 50-year anniversary of the March on Washington and King's "I Have A Dream" speech was Aug. 28, and last Sunday marked 50 years since the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Ala.
"It hits me, because some of the things that I look at that I take for granted, he paved the way for me and my teammates," junior safety Darien Rankin said during the visit.
The National Historic Site, which is run by the National Park System, was established in 1980 to preserve the places where Dr. King was born, lived, worked, worshipped and is buried. Prior to touring the grounds, the Carolina travel party watched a movie about the life of King that featured several rare video and audio clips of King's speeches.
"You feel like you've learned enough in books and in class, but it doesn't do it justice," Jackson said. "This is something you really have to see for yourself and it gives you a new sense of appreciation for what you have and where we've grown as a nation."
