I began the 3rd year of medical school on surgery. Late one night I finished watching the appendectomy on my patient. I wandered into the next operating room hoping to learn something. I did, but not what I expected.

The patient was covered in sterile drapes while the surgeons worked on his abdomen. I spent several minutes gazing at his intestines, his stomach, his liver, and his spleen. Then I saw his hand protruding from the drapes. It was black. I had seen his internal organs without suspecting his race.

It occurred to me that it is a colossal waste of time and energy to obsess about the outer few millimeters of people’s skin, while totally ignoring what is inside, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Dr. King taught us that vital lesson. I learned it late on night in the operating room. But many people have never learned it and, what is worse, stubbornly refuse to do so.