MLK Celebration

My wife began a discussion yesterday with our kids about Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, I continued the discussion on this holiday that celebrates the life and legacy of Martin Luther King. Jr. I wrote down "Martin Luther King, Jr." on a piece of paper and asked my kids to read it. I asked them if they knew who he was. My daughter responded that he was a minister, and that he tried to help others. She said some white people did not like him, and he was killed. I said he did try to help others. He helped people see that we are all Americans whether we are African American, Asian American, Native American, white, or any other color, I explained. I added that he wanted everyone to be equal under the law. I concluded by saying that we are all Americans whatever our differences.

How fitting that as we celebrate Dr. King's vision, we will inaugurate a new president, Barack Obama, who is African American, who is, in fact, American. The historical fact of centuries of racial oppression in America has created a new fact--the fact that Americans elected an African American to be president, an American president for all Americans.