MLK Day: Reflections on “racial reckoning”

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Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S. — a day to honor the late civil rights leader. Dr. King was viewed as the nation’s leading advocate of equality and justice for African-Americans during the 1960s – what has been referred to as the Civil Rights Era in America.

The King holiday would seem to be even more significant in 2021 after the “Racial Reckoning” that swept the country after the death of George Floyd while in police custody last May.
Floyd’s death set off protests against police violence toward minorities that expanded into demonstrations and acknowledgement of discrimination, inequality and injustice.

Monday’s Smart Talk focuses on whether the last six months has brought change and if we as a nation are any closer to King’s vision of racial equality.

Scheduled to appear on the program are Lancaster City Council President Ismail Smith Wade-El, Sandra Thompson – York area attorney, and president of the NAACP, and Professor Stephanie Jirard, Chief Equity Officer at Shippensburg University.