Journalist Challenges "Keep King's Dream Alive"

DALLAS -  The remembrances of Fort Worth Star-Telegram associate editor and columnist Bob Ray Sanders were the highlight of this year’s UT Dallas celebration of the legacy of civil rights champion Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

More than 200 students, faculty, staff and guests from the community gathered for the annual breakfast event.

Sanders spoke of the importance of telling the Civil Rights Movement story, blending personal history with encouragement to the audience to keep King’s dream alive.

Sanders noted he was born in a segregated hospital in Fort Worth. He was in first grade when the Supreme Court declared segregation illegal. He also recalled being allowed to visit the zoo and the fair only one day a year.

“I know what it feels like to drink from a water fountain marked ‘colored,’ ” he said. “I know what it feels like to be barred from public parks.”

Sanders remembered the day in 1964 when the Civil Rights Act became law.  

“I went to the Hollywood Theater the day after LBJ signed the act. I stood in line to get in. That was part of the dream,” he said.

Sanders urged the crowd to remember the imagery surrounding King and the Civil Rights Movement, but also to consider that there’s more work to do.

Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement Magaly Spector concluded the event with a quote from King on the importance of education and her own exhortation that UT Dallas students think intensively and critically and reach out to aid others.

“Our differences make us better citizens and professionals,” she said.

The Office of Diversity and Community Engagement, the Multicultural Center and the Student Union & Activities Advisory Board (SUAAB)sponsored the event, now in its 11^th year.