In September of 1963, I was a boy getting settled into the sixth grade. We had spent the year, first hearing the Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech and witnessing the outrageous conduct of police against demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama.
It was Sept. 15 when a bulletin on the radio let us know there had been a church bombing in Birmingham and that four young girls, one my age, were dead. The KKK was suspected and later confirmed of doing the attack.
Here we are, entering September 2017. We are arguing about a war fought 150 years ago, yet forgetting the war fought in our own time to assure people their constitutional rights to vote and move freely among all of us.
It is compelling on all of us that we remember the recent past and fight any instance of hate that arises today.We need to move away from the past and remember the words of Dr. King.
“I have a dream that one day my four little children will live in a country where they are judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Howard Hanson
Biddeford
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