Ft. Worth (WBAP/KLIF News) – Hundreds of people lined the streets of Fort Worth and attended a rally on Sundance Square Plaza Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Day.
“A lot of these schools, they’re not teaching enough about what went on back then,” one parent said while she sat with her kids along the parade route.
Mayor Betsy Price walked in the parade, stopping to talk with families and kids along the route downtown.
“It’s a very receptive, very enthusiastic crowd,” Price says. “I think most of them understand we’re talking, we’re listening and we want to know what’s going on.”
The crowd in the plaza cheered as Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks prayed for God to “lead us in the right direction, so this city that we love will bring justice and peace to all of its citizens.”
Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald has suspended an officer ten days for arguing with a woman and then arresting her after she called for help in December. Activist Kyev Tatum is a Baptist reverend who has called for Officer William Martin to be fired.
Tatum says a ten day suspension does address an underlying issue of racism in Ft. Worth.
“That’s just perpetuating the system of failure,” Tatum says. “You’re not helping us.”
During the rally, Congressman Marc Veasey said the crowd should focus on what King stood for, saying King stood up for freedom and voting.
“All the things that make living in our country great,” Veasey said. “Even though we have problems, we can solve them in this country.”
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