An altercation between black teens and a white woman on a bus, a noose placed by a black firefighter in a firehouse, charges of discrimination in the police department unveiled in an ongoing federal lawsuit, and the arrest of a 7-year-old black child stoked racial tensions in a divided city.

On a day of remembrance and celebration of the birth of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., some Baltimore black leaders reflected on the state of race relations and civil rights. Looking back on a year marked by high-profile incidents defined by race, they expressed apprehension that King?s dream was being lost.