THE PRESIDENT & DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING.

President Barack Obama was 8 years old, when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated; but he has fulfilled the part of Dr. King's "I have a dream," speech, where he emphasized on a practical partnership between the racial groupings in American society, by his choice of words depicting the sitting at the "table of brotherhood", irrespective of status, whether as descendants of slaves or as descendants of slave owners.

If that was not a prediction of the future, then the picture of former civil rights leaders and the United States Congressional delegation attending the dedication of Dr. King's monument, and a dinner reception after that, would be unrealistic and therefore futile.

The invitees will be sitting across the table in the White House, as guests of the first African American president; talking and chatting as free men and women, over the many concerns affecting the nation and how to redress them.

America of old has passed away; a new spirit has replaced it, with hope, charity and decency; and although, racism still lingered in the minds and hearts of some die hard segregationists, who detested of any change in race relations; however, Dr. King's dream has overshadowed that despicable feeling.

Now, a black person is the master of the House, and he must be accorded the respect that is due him and his family. There is no gainsaying about that, as the attendees to the luncheon will be paying homage to the first Lady Michelle Obama and her two daughters as well.

This will be an emotional session for everyone there, as they dip hands in the same bowl to eat, so to speak. There is no slave amongst them, for they are all free men and women gathering under one roof provided by retrospective presidents and political leaders of the past, who will die to see this special day.

America has come a long way, from the days of slavery and servitude, and from the inexcusable treatment that was directed toward one section of society, due to color or race. That, "All men are created equal..."; and if there should be any distinction between them at all, it must not be based on race, but on merit and achievement, and most of all, on the content of character.

Common education has helped in the development and accomplishment of individuals, to create an opportunity for anyone, who has ample qualifications, to become the president of the United States.

That has come about, not through the notion of mere hope, but of human struggles, centered around the tenacity of hard work, by Dr. King and many other people in the civil rights movement, who were bitten by dogs, overrun by water canons and faced police brutality; and just as by many more, who were sympathisers, and who agreed that, "Man's inhumanity to man must cease", for social change to be fully realized in America.

That end has not been achieved as yet, but it would surely come.

Hatred is a human trait, so it cannot be legislated against; but it must be controlled to the extend of it not spreading and becoming cumbersome for one part of a community to unleash its animosity on the other part, or for that matter, any other part. It is not right, and it has never been right, and it will not ever be right.

Dr. King was assassinated through hatred; but the dedication of his monument is an inspiring proof that it (hatred) has no place in life, and that, in the long run, those who practice it will fail miserably.