Leonard Gray Staff Writer

So many young people have no idea of race relations in America prior to the mid-1960s, when real change began to manifest itself, through sacrifices made by a myriad of people across the country.

Tell a young person today that in living memory, a black person could not eat in the same restaurant, use the same restroom facilities, be permitted to vote in elections, sit in the same area of a movie theater, socialize freely or even use the same water fountain, never mind live in the same neighborhood or attend the same schools, side by side.

Most of those young people, ignorant of those conditions and complacent of their liberty, take all the progress made for granted.

On Monday, most of America will pay tribute to one of those people who was a voice of change, providing leadership, inspiration and a face for positive growth in the soul of America.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Those words were penned more than 200 years ago by Thomas Jefferson. It took most of 200 years before those truths became widely accepted.

Dr. King asked for people to judge one another not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. We still have a long way to go on that.

Violence followed King, inspired by those who missed the message. All people are created equal, but still in this country, some people are more equal than others.

When will we learn?

LEONARD GRAY is assistant managing editor of L’Observateur, and maybe reached at (985) 652-9545.