Forty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the next generation of Americans is left wondering just how far equality has come.
\We have come a long way, I am no longer ashamed to talk about my past and my history; I respect it,"" said Roger Wilkins, speaker at the annual Kastenmeier Lecture Friday.
The lecture covered more than the historical significance of the Civil Rights Act-it highlighted its accomplishments in today's world.
""I believe we have more white Americans today who are willing to fight than there were in the '60s,"" Wilkins said.
""As an African-American young woman, I can see that things are definitely better for me than they were for my mom, and things [were] definitely better for my mom than they were for my grandmother,"" said Mylynda Moore, a second-year UW-Madison law student.
Wilkins also covered how fortunate he felt to have freedoms not granted to previous generations.
""When I die, I'm going to meet my ancestors who never breathed a free breath in their life-and they are going to ask, 'Boy what did you do with your freedom?'"" Wilkins said.
He called the struggle for racial equality a continuous effort to be improved upon by every generation.
""What I've learned is that integration is not a sprint-it cannot be done in a decade or so. It is a long-distance relay,"" Wilkins said.
For those students attending the lecture, the relay analogy was effective.
""Understanding that [equality] is a long-time struggle, that each generation has its own part of play and you pass the baton off to the younger generation ... that definitely hit home,"" Moore said.
""I want to know what area the baton needs to be handed to,"" said first-year UW-Madison law student Angela Thunderclod. ""There are some areas that need to be targeted and I want to know what physically can still be done in the law and with the legislature."" However, according to Wilkins, more important than law is life-long commitment to equality.
""And so what I need to be able to do when I see my ancestors is say, 'I saw the poor people, and I carried that baton for as long as I could and as far as I could for the rest of my life,'"" Wilkins said.
