By Mary Catherine Luedtke

To commemorate Martin Luther King day, St. Pius X High School hosted an all-day workshop January 14 in which students and teachers discussed problems of discrimination in our society. The program was part of St. Pius’ annual Martin Luther King birthday celebration. It was co-sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Workshop leaders invited by Father Terry W. Young, principal, included prominent members of the business, government, media, armed services and education communities.

In his lecture on the nature of anti-Semitism, Mr. William Gralnick, Atlanta director of the American Jewish Committee, said that the history of anti-Semitism is closely tied with the history of Christianity for various political, economic and psychological reasons. He encouraged students to study this history and added that the Catholic Church more than others has squarely faced this issue.

Mrs. Betty Cantor of the Anti-Defamation League described evidence of rising anti-Semitism in the ‘80’s. Calling it a danger to a democratic society, she added that teenagers are largely responsible for its perpetration.

In another workshop, Thomas Dortch, Jr., administrative aide to U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, called the civil rights movement a coalition of blacks and whites to insure equal opportunity and access in every area of life. A member of the NAACP, Mr. Dortch outlined the contributions of blacks to all Americans, and said discrimination is costly to all Americans.

Roy Peterson of WETV-TV discussed discrimination as it relates to the media, which he accused of brainwashing people. He added that blacks are often presented as buffoons, and that the media should be representative, but is currently a distortion of black life.

An overview of state government and how it handles discrimination in employment was presented by Randy Humphrey, special assistant to Governor George Busbee. Calling Affirmative Action a corrective tool to make up for long standing inequalities, he admitted that the program is controversial, but is needed because people are reluctant to change voluntarily.

Father Young said the program is held each year to reinforce Christian teaching, and to remember what is needed to rid our society of any kind of discrimination.