How far have we come in forty years?

As I wrote this blog post in its original form, I suddenly realized that today marks the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis. Four decades later, have we as a society learned anything at all? More to the point, are our children truly growing up in the kind of environment that Dr. King fought so hard to achieve?

Somewhere along the way, I really believe kids today are being desensitized to issues of race and discrimination. Whether it's because they're too focused on video games and the instant gratification of having everything NOW NOW NOW or what, symbolism largely seems to be lost among today's youth.

We see another example of this in Broward County today, where two high school freshmen -- presumably just 14 or 15 -- were suspended from school today after they admitted they hung a noose from a tree outside their school.

A student saw the noose in a tree on the grounds of the private school on Monday afternoon and asked a teacher when it would be taken down, said University School headmaster Jerry Chermak. The teacher then notified the school's administration, and a school security officer removed the noose from the tree.

The University School is part of Nova Southeastern University's campus in Davie and serves 600 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

School officials initially had no idea who may have hung the rope, in part because security cameras were not pointed toward the tree. But two freshman boys admitted responsibility after a special in-class discussion Tuesday about the incident, Chermak said.

The two told Chermak and other school officials that they meant no harm and were simply playing with the rope, taken from some nearby tents.

"Our sense is that this was no statement or symbolic or threatening gesture," Chermak said.

Perhaps there really was no threatening intent, and the kids were just goofing off. But either the boys knew the noose had strong symbolic value and hung it up anyway, or they didn't even understand the symbolism; either way, it's troubling.

The silver lining in this is that University School, rather than ignoring the issue, turned it into a teachable moment:

Today, the University School will use the incident as a teaching tool. Social studies classes at the private school will devote their entire period to discussions of race, prejudice and the symbolism of the noose.

"While I wish we didn't have to go through this, I'm pleased with the result," Chermak said. "We investigated, we found out who did it quickly. … We took it seriously and it did lead to some good dialogue."

Call me skeptical, but I highly doubt this incident would have led to a similar "dialogue" in a south Florida public school.