Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on "Just Engage," the official blog of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

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With determination born of what Lincoln called "firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right," instead of the bitterness that could have emerged from centuries of indignities, Martin Luther King, Jr.  held up a mirror to America and helped us see the need to keep our promises to all our people. His life is truly worth celebrating as a national holiday. But as we do so, with the perspective of 40 years since his life was cut so tragically short by an assassin, it seems timely and right to ask: How far have we come toward realizing Dr. King's dream of genuine equality?

We still face many challenges in terms of recurring discrimination, lingering prejudices and the cancer of bigotry. While  African-Americans and other minorities have overcome hurdles-- entering the professions in ever-growing numbers, serving as leaders in business, government and culture, climbing educational, political and social ladders --  there are still too many who remain vulnerable, impoverished and imprisoned--and, yes, segregated.

The desegregation gains that peaked in 1988 have since eroded, and today just over 30 percent of black students attend majority white schools, the lowest figure in 35 years.

According to recent studies, white students--the most segregated group in the nation's public schools--attend schools, on average, where 80 percent of the student body is white. Black and Hispanic students attend schools, on average, that are more than 85 and 95 percent non-white respectively. Other studies indicate that the vast majority of intensely segregated minority schools face conditions of concentrated poverty, which are powerfully related to both school opportunities and achievement levels.

While the ADL was disappointed that the Supreme Court last year invalidated the voluntary efforts of public school districts in Seattle and Louisville to address racial segregation in their schools, we were encouraged that in his concurrence - the controlling opinion in a 5-4 decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education  - Justice Kennedy correctly and importantly asserted that the government has a compelling interest in promoting racial diversity and avoiding racial isolation in American public schools.  We endorse his view that "this nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its historic commitment to creating an integrated society that ensures equal opportunity for all of its children."

In 1956, Dr.  King said, "We must face the tragic fact that we are far from the promised land in the struggle for a desegregated society." Regrettably these words still apply today, and serve as a call to all of us to re-imagine the aspirations of Dr. King and strive toward more integrated and equitable school communities.

Deborah M. Lauter is the Anti-Defamation League's Civil Rights Director.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.