Reflecting 'the dream'

She stood in front of a packed Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union, peering at the audience through dark-rimmed glasses and donning a black and gold outfit.\nHer articulate tone, rich with inflection, captured the audience Monday evening for the 2003 keynote lecture in Indiana University's celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.\nPatricia Williams, a current law professor at Columbia University, presented the IU community with an insightful look at human and civil rights from a current standpoint.\nMonday's lecture drew many students, faculty members and several University officials, including IU's new Interim President Gerald Bepko.\nBefore Williams took the podium, Associate Chancellor for Multicultural Affairs Gloria Gibson, IUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm and Bepko shared personal reflections of what King's legacy meant to them.\n"(King's) aspirations articulated the words that helped everyone understand the grief and frustrations of our African-American sisters and brothers," Bepko said. "Presently, the focus is not only on making opportunities available for those who have been victims of racism, but the emphasis is on the benefits of diversity in higher education."\nBrehm then urged the IU community to reflect and continue King's aspirations and hopes for racial equality, especially in education.\n"In the dangerous world we live in, we need individuals like Dr. King to serve as role models for how to think carefully, reason well, and know the sacrifice the truth is worth," Brehm said. "I think if (King) were living today, he would be astonished in the positive change in race-related behaviors in the U.S., although we still have a lot to work on."\nBrehm then introduced Williams, whose lengthy repertoire includes serving as a professor of law and women's studies at several universities, an attorney in Los Angeles, and publishing books and articles on race relations.\nAlthough Williams touched on the current affirmative action in education debate, she decided to focus on human and civil rights since Sept. 11.\n"In celebrating the life of King, we should stop and look at how much has changed for the better, how much is still ambiguous, and how far we still have to go," Williams said. "Today we have this strong tension between our security and the full protection of civil rights, and so we limit our sights on good policing and the abilities of democratically-elected leaders."\nBut Williams expressed her concern of the Bush administration's acceptance and encouragement of extreme security measures -- such as surveillance, ethnic profiling and military tribunals. \nFreshman Christopher Parker was eager to hear William's lecture and to celebrate King's legacy of non-violent behavior.\n"I wanted to come hear (Williams) speak to encapsulate King's legacy," Parker said. "…to understand his purpose and to put a contemporary perspective on race relations."\nAs Williams spoke, her voice was accented with an articulate phrasing, as she spoke about the current war on terrorism.\n"I worry that in a struggle that is colored by a degree of social panic, we must be careful not to allow human rights to be cast aside," she added. \nWilliams, who was awarded as a MacArthur Fellow in 2000, concluded her lecture by connecting the contemporary conflict with King's inspirational words 40 years ago.\n"King protested the Vietnam war for many of the same reasons some of us oppose the way we are fighting this new war on terror," Williams said. "King insisted on equal protection, even for those we don't like. Our best resistance to terror is the summoning of those principles suited to keep us from descending into vengeance and revenge"