Martin Luther King Day was celebrated in the Pioneer Valley with Amherst Regional Middle School’s Eighteenth Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Breakfast. The event, held on Saturday, Jan. 19, included the distribution of scholarships to college-bound seniors at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School, and featured a keynote address by University of Massachusetts Professor Sonia Nietos.

Dr. Nietos, a professor of Language, Literacy and Culture in the School of Education, delivered a lecture titled, “Social Justice in Hard Times.” She asserted that, despite the progress made in civil rights, children should not be taught that the “dream” mentioned in King’s most famous speech has been fully realized.

“As a nation we’ve made great strides this past century in terms of social justice,” Dr. Nietos said. “We’d be blind not to see it. People of color, women, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers have all made advancements – and we’ve all reaped the benefit.”

As an example of the way that minority enfranchisement benefits the community as a whole, Nietos cited “curb-cuts” on sidewalks – spots in which the curb has been cut away to allow easier access to pedestrians.

“Curb-cuts were demanded by people in wheelchairs,” she said. “Today, they’re as common as curbs themselves. But they’ve benefited countless other people – kids on bicycles, the elderly, parents with baby carriages and people who are simply tired at the end of the day.”

Nietos also described affirmative action as a program that has been beneficial to all citizens. She mentioned a study done in Houston public schools that showed that a diverse teaching faculty, brought about by affirmative action policies, benefited the learning of students from every racial background.

“The impact on white students was greater than the impact on students of color,” she said. “So much for the argument that affirmative action hurts whites.

“We’ve come a long way,” she continued. “Our society is different than it was in 1950. But I persist in maintaining that these are still hard times for social justice.”

Nietos listed ways in which she feels that the United States has failed to live up to King’s ideals.

“In the aftermath of Sept. 11,” she began, “rights of immigrants have been quickly eroded. Our civil rights are quickly lost if we are not vigilant.

“The dream of integrated schools is far from a reality,” she continued. “Latino students are now more segregated than African-American students. Most segregated of all are white students.”

She also added that bilingual education programs have begun to disappear, particularly in public schools.

“It’s fitting to place my remarks in an educational context,” Nietos said, “because all of us are powerful models for our children…and we have a long way to go to make sure that all of our children benefit equally.”

She told of a letter she had read in the Amherst Bulletin, in which a Puerto Rican graduate of Amherst-Pelham Regional High School angrily recounted the lack of references to Puerto Rico in the curriculum. The student stated that the only time she had seen Puerto Rico mentioned in a textbook was as a leading importer of Cheese Whiz. This, Nietos said, was an example of how the affairs of minorities are neglected by modern schools.

Nietos also expressed concerns that educational programs were leaving students of color behind.

“Black and Latino students are over-represented in special education classes, and under-represented in honors classes,” she said. “We still have a long way to go to make sure that all children benefit equally.”

She added that most of the teachings of Dr. King have gone ignored by school curricula. While students know about King’s commitment to racial equality, Nietos said, the rest of his ideology is rarely mentioned.

“Dr. King condemned the Vietnam War, as well as crass consumerism…and the excesses of capitalism,” she said. “But when do we [hear about] that?”

Nietos also said that the contributions of Rosa Parks have been misrepresented in textbooks and in history courses.

“Rosa Parks has been portrayed not as a staunch civil rights crusader,” she said, “but rather as a tired old woman.

“She was the secretary of [her chapter of] the NAACP,” Nietos continued. “She was prepared for the actions she was about to take.”

Parks, she said, had received civil disobedience training, and had been planning her protest with others.

“School curriculum,” she said, “needs to address this issue! As we commemorate Dr. King’s birthday, [we need to realize] that teaching children well means going beyond convention.”

Nietos went on to explain that children needed to know more about King’s vision.

“Children need to know more than the fact that Martin Luther King had a dream,” she said. “Presenting his entire life through one speech…gives the impression that we’ve accomplished his dream.”

Nietos concluded her speech by explaining that well-educated children know not to believe everything that they hear.

She praised Mary Cowhey, a Northampton elementary schoolteacher, for the lessons she delivers in her second grade class.

“She always teaches her students to ask, ‘Where’s the evidence?’ after they read something,” said Nietos. “Imagine second graders asking this!”

In addition to Nietos’s speech, the event featured the presentation of the scholarships to its recipients, local students Hannah Robinson, Awad Brown, Violette Corgnati, and Antonio Lewis. The students were all described as being “deeply affected by the legacy of Dr. King,” with outstanding contributions to their school and community.

Past recipients have included many UMass-Amherst students, as well as graduates of Harvard University, Princeton University, and Williams College.

In addition to the student scholarships, Mary Custard, Dean of Students at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School, received the 2002 Citizen Award, in honor of her “strong and unwavering advocacy for social justice.” Barbara Love, a professor of Education at UMass, presided over the breakfast.