By Larry Stover
The Selma Times-Journal

I was helping my granddaughter Rebekah, with some homework this past week. As with many school lessons, the focus has been on the celebration this weekend, the 50th anniversary of the March to Montgomery and various speeches made by Martin Luther King Jr.

His famous “I Have a Dream” speech will go down in history as one of the most pivotal messages delivered during the civil Rights movement. My granddaughter was asked to respond to the now famous line, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I had a great discussion with her regarding what the content of one’s character is all about.

For the past month, I have been speaking to the students at Martin Middle School about their personal character. We have looked at values like integrity, honesty, reliability, morality and truthfulness.

I shared with them a little of my first encounter with prejudice. I’ve never considered myself to be prejudiced at all. I have always looked beyond the superficial traits of an individual to see the “content of their character.”

That first experience goes back to 1968. I moved from small town Ohio to Pensacola, Fla. It was the first year of court ordered integration in the public schools. That transition to Woodham High School was a new experience for me. The black kids hated me because I was white and the white kids hated me because I was a “Yankee.”As a sophomore in high school I had never experienced anything like it before in my life. Until that point in my life, I never had a shortage of friends. Really, I was a likeable person then and now. I was so thankful that I had a church youth group who accepted me for who I was. Friendships that evolved out of that group remain with me to this day.

One of the awesome things about Dallas County is that it is a melting pot of sorts. We have people from all races and the combination of those various groups.

I’m excited to be a part of a church that welcomes people of every race. We worship together and enjoy fellowship with each other on a continuing basis.

As I walk the halls of area schools, I have the privilege of working with students, faculty and staff of every background imaginable. We work on projects together anticipating input from other members of the team.

Throughout the week, I have the privilege of meeting and working with civic and business leaders of every nationality. I would hate to think that a preconceived prejudice would ever cause me to write a person off because they are “not like me.”

And, it’s why life is “Simply Beautiful” when you see people as God sees them.