Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech denotes a major step in the right direction during the fight for racial equity in the United States. King's eloquent and deeply moving speech called for equal rights and conditions for all Americans and won King the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," King said.

Unfortunately, according to a recent survey conducted by the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy for the nonprofit Intercollegiate Studies Institute, many college students have no idea what King was trying to achieve.

According to the survey, only 81 percent knew that King was expressing hope for "racial justice and brotherhood," and most of the rest thought he was advocating the abolition of slavery.

What makes this statistic so disconcerting is not just the fact that these students don't recognize and understand the importance of King's speech, but that they also don't understand the history of black Americans' struggle for racial equity and freedom.

Where does this problem stem from? Is it a poor education system, which does not fully teach our students the importance of racial equality and King's fight for civil rights? Or does it stem from a personal apathy for these subjects?

The answer is, probably, a little of both.

We understand that it is important to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. and a national holiday serves that purpose. But maybe it would be better to keep kids in school, and take that entire day to teach them about the importance of the Civil Rights movement, and how it paved the way for the black citizens of the United States.

A stronger emphasis should be put on these subjects during history lessons at the primary and secondary education level. Martin Luther King Jr. was an incredibly educated and intelligent man who promoted education. Would he want us to take off a school day when we could instead be learning about these important topics?

That being said, no amount of teaching will force someone to learn something they don't care about. The sad matter of the fact is that some people just won't care about the Civil Rights movement until they have been directly affected by it. As members of society, who interact with people from all walks of life and background, we should strive to learn about things like the Civil Rights movement and about Martin Luther King Jr. It will help us better appreciate the people we deal with. Take the upcoming Penn State events during Black History Month to learn about the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. It's never too late to educate yourself about such an important time in American history.