By Victoria Almond/reporter

Fifty years of change in America’s black communities have helped blacks, but much more must be done.

That was the consensus by a panel discussion of four black leaders and students on NE Campus Feb. 12. The panelists included Be Boyd, Gloria Clemmons, Bob Ray Sanders and Murray Fortner.

Dreams are still deferred for people in poverty — the opportunities are there but are hard to achieve, said Clemmons, an Arlington medical technologist.

“Take a look at Ferguson, Mo., — jail cells, the homeless — dreams are deferred,” said Sanders, an editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The problem is that blacks rely on mainstream press to teach them, Fortner, NE sociology professor, said.

“I have no faith in the press to teach me,” said Sanders. “The press contributed to the Civil Rights movement, but blacks lack leadership. Past movements had training on how to resist peacefully. We lack training for the action.”

A black president hasn’t been enough for the change blacks seek, Fortner said.

“There’s a difference between a drum major and a band director,” he said. “We lack leadership in the community, in church. We need the real root change. Kids need someone to touch them to be influenced.”

The African-American community lacks personal responsibility, is not proactive, is not taking action, doesn’t know where to direct their energies, has no agenda, and no leadership, according to Boyd, an actress and former associate professor at Texas Christian University.

Fortner quoted Martin Luther King: “I look to a day where people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The change that will bring all races together starts in one’s community, Fortner said.

“Why does there have to be black and white instead of good and bad?” he said.