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Nearly four-decades ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. eloquently expressed his dream for a nation and a world where discrimination based on race or nationality would no longer exist.
"We must work with determination to create a society," he said, "in which all men will live together as brothers and respect the dignity and worth of human personality."
For the people of Utah, his words resonate with meaning as our community undergoes a significant, yet challenging cultural transformation.
Look around! Observe the astonishing proliferation of immigrants from a variety of lands and nationalities. Most pronounced in Utah is the influx of those from Latin America. The Hispanic population is growing rapidly and by 2010 will exceed 20 percent of Utah’s population.
A national survey released last month revealed that 82 percent of Hispanics in the United States report that discrimination against Hispanics is a problem. Nearly that many say there is discrimination against Hispanics in the workplace.
Such sobering perceptions underscore the message of the holiday we commemorate today. Americans need to be constantly reminded, as Dr. King often said, "of our forefathers great creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’"
Indeed, society must keep working to put an end to discrimination.
