This editorial appeared in The Miami Herald.
It did not seem possible 40 years ago, when Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed, that a day would be set aside for all Americans to honor his memory. Yet today people all across our country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, take a break from their labors in tribute to Dr. King's contributions to this country and the world.
Dr. King is best remembered for helping America understand that the dream of a color-blind society could, indeed, become reality. Since his death in 1968, America has moved steadily toward realizing that dream, a milestone of which will be Tuesday's inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation's first African-American president.
But Dr. King's dream extended beyond the color barrier. He advocated nonviolent resistance as a means of opposing oppression in America and all over the world, and as the conflict in Vietnam grew wider and more violent, he spoke out forcefully against the inhumanity of war.
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