Martin Luther King, Jr. and the future of humanity

As this day of remembering the courage and insight of Martin Luther King, Jr. comes to a close, I hope those of us who were young during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s vividly remember his courage and the changes he helped to foster.

When I was growing up in a genteel prairie, university town that pretended it had no race problems, Blacks had to sit in the balcony at the theater, go to a separate elementary school, couldn't find a barber to cut their hair in the university shopping area, and a white high school student who dared to date a Black classmate had a cross burned on her lawn. I know I never knew the depth of what they faced every single day of their lives.

I was fortunate that my parents raised us with the motto "Above All Nations Is Humanity," and meant it. University students from countries around the world roomed at our house, and the summer of 1960, a Black teacher from a big city who was studying at the university enriched our lives as he stayed with us.

I remember, long before the days of videos in the classroom, seeing a black-and-white movie titled "Let George Do It" about fulfilling our civic responsibilities and not leaving them to others. It made a big impression on me.

But nowhere did anyone impress upon us the necessity of great courage in doing what was right, the necessity of insight and tolerance, the necessity of being willing to die, as Martin Luther King, Jr. did. I thank him for the leadership he gave and the sacrifice he made.