The Prison of Mediocrity

by Penny Ronning
(written May 23, 1996 for an undergraduate Composition Writing class;
published 1997)

In 1983, I was privileged to spend ten days visiting Folsom Prison as a guest of
the warden and the chief of police. Having studied psychology for the past three
years, I was eager to find out what made the prisoners think differently from the
rest of us. I found it amazing that someone could not only think of committing a
crime, but actually do it as well. Realizing that many of these men would kill,
rape, rob, or beat another human being with as much emotion as it takes for me
to comb my hair, and knowing that most of these men were not sorry for the
crimes they had committed, I asked the Lord, “What is wrong with their minds?”
In my spirit, I heard God answer, “Nothing. Their minds are doing exactly what
their minds were created to do. The problem is in their heart. Change their heart
and you change their life.” All prisons are horrible, but the worst prison of all is
the prison of mediocrity.

Prisoners of mediocrity are as Martin Luther King, Jr. suggests, “dedicated to

maintenance of the status quo” (565). Silence, in regard to the oppressed,
delivers the same judgment as action in regard to the oppressors. The person
who says nothing, looks the other way, pays no attention, or says, “it is none of
my business,” shares the same guilt with the one who delivers the blow of
inhumane justice and oppression.

One of the most memorable and well-written scenes to come out of Hollywood is
from the movie, Pretty Woman. Edward, a multimillionaire businessman played
by Richard Gere, has just been surprised by the actions of Vivian, a prostitute
played by Julia Roberts. After drinking champagne and eating strawberries,
Vivian excuses herself from Edward’s presence and taking her purse with her,
retreats into the bathroom. Edward, being suspicious of her actions, has decided
to see what she is doing. Vivian is about to floss the strawberry seeds out of her
teeth when she hears Edward open the door. Embarrassed, she closes her hand
around the dental floss hiding it from Edward. Edward, assuming she is hiding
drugs in her hand, grabs Vivian by the arm, shoves her purse into her chest, tells
her that he will have nothing to do with drugs while pushing her toward the door.
Surprised by this sudden accusation, Vivian halts their movement and declares
that she does not do drugs. Edward then asks her to show what she is hiding in
her hand. Humiliated, Vivian opens her hand to reveal the dental floss. Edward
is stunned. Seeing his reaction, Vivian asks, “What’s the matter? Never see
anyone floss their teeth?” Edward responds by saying, “People don’t usually
surprise me.” To which Vivian says, “You’re lucky. They shock the hell out of
me.”

The older I get the more like Vivian I become: people shock the hell out of me.
Walking into class, I was shocked to hear complaints about Martin Luther King,
Jr.’s letter being too long. I was shocked to hear a student say that she was glad
he was dead. I was shocked to hear this same student say that Martin Luther
King, Jr., didn’t know when to shut up. I was shocked to hear another student
agree that he (Dr. King) didn’t need to write so much. I was shocked to hear
several students complain that the letter took too long to read. All, of course,
received my very emotional and not-thought-out-at-all response, “Too bad you
had to suffer through four pages of a letter written by a man representing a whole
group of people who have been suffering for hundreds of years.” To which one
student replied, “Fourteen pages, Penny, not four.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. was not only the face of hope for black people in the
1950s and ‘60s, but he has been one of the world’s greatest instigators of higher
thinking. He challenged people of all races to look beyond themselves to a higher
cause. He challenged people from all backgrounds to break the boundaries of
complacency. He challenged all people to overcome hate with love. He
challenged all people to think with a greater purpose.

Dr. King quotes Jesus, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and
Thomas Jefferson in his letter from the Birmingham jail. These men are not only
easily identifiable, but they are also instigators of a higher level of thinking. Each
of these men, including Martin Luther King, Jr., fought for a cause greater than
his own life. Each man rose above the level of mediocrity by challenging society
to step up to the level of responsibility. Each man looked inward for answers
rather than outward for blame, and each man challenged all people to do the
same.

Although Martin Luther King, Jr. was the voice of strength and the face of hope
for black people during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, he never pointed
to himself as the one to follow. He always pointed beyond himself to the one
greater than he: Jesus Christ. I believe, in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s heart, the
most important role he lived was that of a Christian. In his letter from the
Birmingham jail, he writes to his fellow clergy, “I hope this letter finds you strong
in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to
meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow
clergyman and a Christian brother” (576).
Because Martin Luther King, Jr. chose not to live a life of mediocrity, people have
done more than just exist; they have lived. Alice Walker testifies,

Because of the Movement, because of an awakened faith in the

newness and imagination of the human spirit . . . because of the
beatings, the arrests, the hell of battle during the past years, I have
fought harder for my life and for a chance to be myself, to be
something more than a shadow or a number, than I had ever done
before. Before, there had seemed to be no real reason for struggling
beyond the effort for daily bread (319).
Because Martin Luther King, Jr. defied mediocrity, we have been given the
awareness of “right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant” (574) and
“injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (563). Martin Luther King,
Jr. shined the light of justice for all people into the caverns of injustice for a select
people. He called forth a response and an action from all social classes.

It is true, one day each of us will stand before God, judged not by the color of our
skin, but by the content of our character. The prison of mediocrity is a choice.
The freedom of nobility is a choice. Both come with a price tag--pay now or pay
later.

Works Cited
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. eds. Patterns for College Writing.
6th Edition. New York: St. Martin’s. 1995.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Kirszner and Mandell.
562-576.
Walker, Alice. “The Civil Rights Movement: What Good Was It.” Kirszner and
Mandell. 315-322.