Reflections on Martin Luther King Day
It seems like yesterday when as a boy growing up on the Southside of Chicago I watched TV and wondered what all the disturbance was about when a small time church minister marched in Selma, Alabama.

I had trouble understanding why people were so angry about this black and white desegregation and how it would affect me. I looked around at my friends who were all colors and religions ~ kids I was in Scouts with or who played baseball with me. I ate at their homes and listened to their families' stories of the past. My world was filled with different religions, different ethnic heritages and different colors. Later on, during the Viet Nam war, these kids all bled the same ~ red, white and blue.

What was the big deal?

The big deal was, and is, equal rights for all and we must understand that we are all Americans. We must understand that as our forefathers entered New York harbor, the first person they saw was a lady of color ~ the green statue of liberty. We, as a society, must look at the person and not their color, religion or ethnicity. Rather, we must look at their character ~ for that is the measure of a man or woman.

As we honor the Reverend Martin Luther King today, let us remember the simple yet profound words that memorialize his life's work; "The time is always right to do what is right."

Respectfully,

Michael B. Kwasman, Mayor