The country is clouded with a virus that knows no time. Racism is its name.

No scientist can cure it. It came in 1619 and has been hanging around since then.

A cure was supposed to happen in 1865. But then came the lynchings and burning black people alive. Jim Crow laws kept the virus alive. Beating up and gunning down black people on the streets of Southern cities became a non-punishable crime.

In June 1921, Tulsa, Okla., became a horrible crime scene. More than 300 black people were murdered by evil white mobs. Their bodies were buried in mass graves while their businesses and homes were destroyed.

In 1953, 14-year-old Emmett Till was murdered by very evil white men. Black churches and black homes have been bombed to further feed this evil, man-made virus.

In the 1960s, we were offered a cure. His name was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As he stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and spoke of a beautiful dream, many Americans — black people and white people — loved his vision.

Then came April 4, 1968, when the evil virus struck again. Dr. King is in heaven, but his words and dream are still here on Earth.

Reach for the cure so that the evil virus of racism does not keep spreading and claiming more victims.

NAOMI GAYLE SAUNDERS

Richmond