THERE'S STILL WORK TO BE DONE TO ACCOMPLISH KING'S DREAM

It was heartening to see the community come together in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for its third annual King Community Celebration on Friday. Likewise, events being held at Southeast Missouri State University in honor of the slain civil-rights leader on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day serve to show that King's dream of achieving true racial equality in this country is still alive in the minds of many.

Sadly, racism and discrimination also are still alive in the minds of too many people. And until those feelings are eradicated, King's dream is unachievable.

It was almost 30 years ago, on Aug. 28, 1963, that King told of his dream during an address in Washington, D.C. There, during a demonstration by 200,000 people in support of black demands for equal rights, King said, "I have a dream that this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, `We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.'"

Less than five years later, on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated at the age of 39 in Memphis, Tenn., by James Earl Ray, an escaped convict.

James Farmer was a colleague of King's in the '60s. He stood by him in the early fights against segregation in the South. Farmer, 74, founded and formerly directed the Congress of Racial Equality.

"If King were here, he'd be terribly disappointed -- disappointed in all of us," Farmer said during a recent appearance on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville campus. "The dream which he articulated in 1963 has receded into the distance. We are farther from it than we were Aug. 28, 1963, farther from that dream of a colorblind society in this country," said Farmer.

Part of King's disappointment, he said, would be in the realization of unrealistic expectations that black leaders then put on their efforts to achieve equality. Farmer admits that he and the others oversimplified the issues, confusing segregation laws of the South with racism. It was difficult, he said, for them to look very far ahead while he and others were dealing with daily crises that included violence against their followers.

Through efforts of people like King and Farmer, who drew the nation's attentions to wrongs in the South, integration of schools has been achieved.

If King were here today he might be disappointed that 30 years after his Washington address true racial equality still has eluded this nation. We disagree with Farmer's opinion that the country is farther from the dream than it was in 1963. Strides have been made since those turbulent years of the 1960s, but this nation still has a long way to go.

Debra Mitchell-Braxton, coordinator of the King tribute at the university, said that youth are the key to bringing the dream to reality. We agree, and it's encouraging today to see that more young people look upon others for who they are, not the color of their skin.

That is progress. But if we are to achieve the equality that King had hoped he would see in his lifetime, each of us must look deeply within ourselves. Each of us must ask ourselves on this day set aside to commemorate the birth of the great civil-rights leader what we can do to help achieve true racial equality.

The answer is quite simple: Treat others as we would have them treat us.