Until the 1970s and the passage of the Nevada Fair Housing Act, open discrimination against blacks was tolerated in Reno.  Lonnie Feemster of the Reno chapter of the NAACP says the past continues to haunt the region’s small African American community. But he hopes the spirit of Martin Luther King will help energize Reno’s blacks.
 
If more people would take up that type of personality and are willing to go out and put their comfort on the line – maybe not their life but at least their comfort – to help overcome the inequities in our society.  I think it will make a difference.
 
Feemster points out that African Americans make up only 2.6 percent of Reno’s population. He says home ownership among that group is the second lowest in the nation at thirty percent.  The local branch of the NAACP is planning a dinner this evening to celebrate Dr. King’s birthday.

Brian Bahouth KXJZ News.