So, today is Martin Luther King Day.

Monday, January 17, 2000

So, today is Martin Luther King Day.

So, what?

What, indeed, should we remember on Martin Luther King Day?

Government will cease to operate. Local, state and federal government offices will be closed – just like Labor Day, Independence Day and other national holidays.

Schools will remain in session. Unlike other legal holidays.

Does Arizona still not recognize the day as a legal holiday?

Those inconsistencies cause consternation among those who say King is not receiving the respect he earned in life.

Before he died, Dr. King was the most famous advocate of "black power." He led marches, risked his life and did all he could possibly do for equal rights.

His "I Have a Dream" speech is as powerful today as it was when he gave it.

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character," Dr. King said.

For decades, the heartland of America was largely at arm’s length from facing the question of color vs. character. The smallest communities also were the whitest communities in America.

Then, the neighborhood changed. People of color were moving into houses next door: Asians, Hispanics and others. More often than not, they were working at jobs no longer sought by whites.

Austin is but one example.

Austinites can look in any direction and see that is true.

This community and others like it are being tested: Should skin color be ignored when judging other men? Should that judging, by man, take place at all?

On Martin Luther King Day, we all might well do what King once dreamed.