Harold Halpern
In my last column I wrote about my celebration of our Declaration of Independence and the pursuit of equality and dignity for all people. I quoted Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I continue with this thought now.
In 1947, 75 years ago, in seventh grade, I was a contestant in the annual Richmond Speaking competition held for Buffalo public school students. We were required to deliver a memorized speech. Mine was written by my father. I don’t remember much of its content except the stirring phrase, “We are not hyphenated Americans, we all are Americans.”