Today I attended a luncheon at the Gordon Jewish Community Center ("GJCC") here in Nashville (here is the GJCC's Web site: www.nashvillejcc.org). (As an aside, the GJCC is a wonderful place.)
John Seigenthaler spoke about civil rights since the death of President John F. Kennedy, and, or course, about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in particular. It was a very moving speech; one that reminded me why we must stand up for what is right. What I took away from the speech, in part, is this: discrimination---in any form (especially coupled with ignorance)---is evil. It has led to slavery, to the Holocaust, etc. But I also took this way from his speech: things can change; and with a little help from regular people---folks like you and me---we can make a difference. Now, it might not be easy; in fact, it might be really difficult at times. But if we stand up for the right thing, the world we live in (and the world we leave to our children) will be a much better place.
I want to leave you all with this thought. My son, who is three, loves a Dr. Seuss movie called The Lorax. There is a quote from the movie that states as follows: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
I'm extremely glad we had people like JFK and MLK who cared; and that we have people like Mr. Seigenthaler who cared---and still cares. It does my heart good.
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