Reporting from Washington - President Obama convened a group of African American "elders" at the White House on Monday in the hopes of reminding young people that the struggle for civil rights is not so far in the American past.
Before the event could get started, though, a guest leaned over to whisper a different message into his ear, one informed by more than a century of experience.
"This must be the Lord's doing," 102-year-old Mabel Harvey told him, "because we've come a mighty long way."
As he delivered his own message in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the holiday marking his birthday, Obama and his administration emphasized the work yet to be done to realize the slain civil rights leader's vision.
His Cabinet fanned out across the Washington area to participate in civic projects to serve the needy and clean up their community. The president and his family served lunch at a local soup kitchen as he called for commitment to a "cause greater than ourselves."
The annual observance of King's birthday came close on the heels of a new poll suggesting a slide in the public's optimism about race relations. Just before Obama's inauguration a year ago, nearly 6 in 10 Americans believed the president would improve race relations, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-obama-king19-2010jan19,0,2914701.story
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