As interest in civil rights fades, will we live in an 'absent' community?

Martin Luther King Jr. talked about a beloved community.

Leaders trying to make it happen here are talking about something else: the absent community.

Few people under age 40 value the community building blocks it takes to bring people together peacefully, they say.

"There's a big rift between the old guard and the young guard in terms of community involvement," said Mel Campbell, president of the MLK Jr. Celebration Planning Committee on Hilton Head Island.

"I'm at my wit's end in terms of how to get that involvement done."

Jenifer Gajdalo, secretary of the committee, said, "We're not so hidebound we're averse to change. But we'd like to see some people (get involved to) make suggestions for change."

Since the early 1990s, the committee of about a dozen active members has organized the island's commemoration of the teachings and historical influence of King, the symbol of American civil rights who was fatally shot almost 41 years ago.

Right now, they're looking at public events planned for next week. The celebration will begin with the Rev. Ben Williams, the dean of island pastors, headlining a community religious service at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at Queen Chapel A.M.E. Church.

Volunteers are needed to perform projects at island homes the morning of Jan. 17, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem will perform that night at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. On Jan. 19, the annual MLK March will be followed by a keynote address by South Carolina's premier historian, Walter Edgar. The MLK Community Service Award will be presented, and it will end with a free community cookout.

Campbell -- who was born on Hilton Head Island in 1949 and has taught at Hilton Head Island High School since 1991 -- worries that people younger than he see the civil rights movement as ancient history and irrelevant to their lives.

That frustrates him. But his bigger worry is that institutions that shape society -- local government, churches, community organizations, even school clubs and student government -- have anemic participation by anyone under 40.

He sees us ebbing toward a society with no knowledge of history, a crumbling sense of what's right and what's wrong, no urge to participate, and a stunning lack of respect toward police officers, teachers, parents and neighbors. He sees it in all races.

He hopes the surge of youthful interest in President-elect Barack Obama will lead to change in how the next generation thinks about government and the whole democratic system.

He doesn't see how an absent community can ever become a beloved community.