In a 1967 address, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledged the progress America had made in civil rights but that the fight for equality was entering into a new phase. According to King, although the battles to end legal segregation were won, the movement had entered “a struggle for genuine equality on all levels,” and it would be a “much more difficult struggle.”

Our nation has made tremendous leaps forward, but we are still fighting for equality more than 50 years later. We all carry the responsibility of treating each other with dignity and respect and must continue to work toward a society where every person can enjoy the blessings of life, liberty, and opportunity.