I think that is the case between Americans of different races in much of the United States.  I’m a Californian and much of urban California seems to have learned many of the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement.  However, in the rural parts of the state, the races aren’t mixed and they don’t learn from one another.

I was fortunate to visit the Sierra Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church of Auburn, California, for their yearly tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in January, 2010.  Their guests on this occasion were members of the New Home Baptist Church from Sacramento.  The congregation from Auburn was white and that of Sacramento black.  They’d celebrated this holiday together for years since an arsonist torched the New Home church.  SFUU was the only church in the Auburn area to send money for New Home to rebuild, and so the relationship began.  New Home brought inspiring music and the youth of both churches put on a play celebrating the first sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, February 1, 1960.  The old Woolworth’s lunch counter is now part of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

And to give credit where it is due, the Placer Arts/California Arts Council provides the funding for the yearly event.

“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better,” Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote.  It is clear that these two churches, Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church and New Home Baptist Church are seeking a better understanding of one another.