Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 40 Years Later

There are certain events that become so ingrained on your mind that you can remember the exact details of how you found out, even after 40 or more years. The assasination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is 1 of those events.

The 4th was on a Thursday in 1968. It was about 6:30 pm. My dad was as work at the restaurant where he was a bartender. My Mom & sister had gone shopping. All that were left at home was my Grandpa John Stasi & me. We had on KWWL-TV, Channel 7. The usual "We interupt etc" began. I went into the living room & stood there as the news came across. I was shocked as were many people.

That Dr. King accomplished a lot in his life, there is no doubt. That he made mistakes, ditto. He was human like the rest of us.

Are things perfect?, no. There is still a lot of hate between people of various skin colors, on both sides. Sorry, but I can't say that things are all the fault of those of us with white skin, Obama's minister, Farrakhan & others prove that hatred, bigotry & racism is not exclusive to 1 group. I have been on the receiving end of prejudice & bigotry by those who assume that I am racist because of my skin color. They are the bigots, not me.

I am sick & tired of us being classified by race. There is only 1 race, THE HUMAN RACE. Some of us are of European ancestry, some Asia, some Africa, some American, but we are all 1 race. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage.

But it is ridiculous to classify anyone by skin color. It is just as stupid as classifying someone by hair color, eye color, height or weight. If I like or don't like you it has nothing to do with skin color.

Like Dr. King challenged us to do, when I meet you, I judge you based on the content of your character. Nothing else. Capish?

Yes, we all have room for improvement. If we truly want to honor Dr. King, let's quit the politics of hate, of race & treat each other as brothers & sisters. Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech that he gave in 1963 is not merely aimed at telling whites how to treat blacks, he is telling blacks how to treat whites & he is telling all of us, regardless of skin color how to treat each other.

I know that some of what I say will not be popular in some circles. There are those who hate blacks, there are those who hate white. There are those who just hate. But you know what, that is their problem, not mine. God created us all, Jesus died for all of us. That is what matters to me.