Resolve

from poster WagePeace at daily kos:

This story happened during the civils rights movement at one of the sit-ins at a segragated lunch counter. It happened to a man who was well trained in non-violence.

A white man and an african-american man had been sitting at a lunch counter in a small town in the South. They had been there 2 days without being served. Local people had been gathering around them and tensions were mounting. Finnally the white man was told; "I'm gonna give you one minute to get out of here nigger-lover, before I run this knife into your heart" The man seated at the lunch counter, was staring at the knife and thought to himself, "well at least he gave me a minute." Then he forced himself to look up into the face of man holding the knife and saw such hate and rage, the likes of which he had never seen before. Though frightened, the man at the lunch counter replied; "well brother, you do what you have to, and I'm going to try and love you just the same".

There was a long silence. Then the hands of the man holding the knife began to quiver, and finally the knife fell to the ground. The man quickly turned to leave, but not before someone noticed him wipe a tear from his eye.