Community Corner
Extra! Extra! Let's Talk Race
It's summer of 1968, and a group of local laypersons and pastors are studying the civil rights movement.
July 11, 1968: It had been three months since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN, and a group of Lakeville and Farmington citizens were holding study meetings to talk about race at the local Presbyterian church.
Mrs. Lawrence Sahagian gave a report on the book "Why We Can't Wait," written by King in 1963.
Her report was printed in the Dakota County Tribune, and included this passage:
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"How many of us would be willing to go to jail for what we believe? Why should some have to die so that others may have equality?
We (whites) don't have to --- we are free --- we don't know what it is like not to be free.
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Why, then, in our 'Christian-society' do we make it so difficult for the Negro to be free? Are we afraid? Are we prejudice? What is the answer?"
You can check out more events, exhibits and archives at the Dakota County Historical Society, 130 Third Ave. N., South St. Paul.
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