Jan 16, 2017 3 min read

DONORA – Donora native Reggie B. Walton was serving as deputy drug czar under President George Bush when a man in Arizona asked him if it was fair to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday because he promoted the black race.

Arizona, Walton recalled while speaking in his hometown Monday, was one of the U.S. states that didn’t recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and it turned out the man who asked the question was former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham, who had been impeached for his racist remarks, among other things.

“There is no doubt (King) opened doors for people like myself,” said Walton, who dreamed in high school of becoming a college football player and went on to become a U.S. Superior Court judge in the District of Columbia.

He said King’s efforts to break down racially discriminating laws “made this country a better place for everyone and that the United States could not be a “beacon of hope” for many people had it not been for King, who was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., April 4, 1968.

Walton said it was “eerie” for him to be standing before a crowd of about 70 people in the Donora Public Library because the building was built on the same lot where his family made its home while he was growing up.

“I actually lived right here at 500 Meldon Avenue,” he said.

The second-floor dance hall above his residence was closed and replaced by a church whose members attended services there seven days a week. The walls were thin, leaving the Waltons to attend those services without having to go upstairs.

“I learned how to preach,” Walton said, adding his speaking style resonated with his black clients, most of whom were from the South, after he took on cases as an attorney in the District of Columbia.

Walton attended West Virginia State University after graduating from Donora High School, where he was taught by Charles Stacey, who introduced the judge to the lectern.

“After he saw the size, shape and speed of the college athletes, he said ‘I’d better try something else,'” said Stacey, a retired Ringgold School District superintendent.

Walton said the playing field is still not level for many Americans, especially those who live in poverty and have substandard schools and few job opportunities.

“We still have a problem providing adequate health care,” he noted.

Walton is currently serving as a senior U.S. judge in Pittsburgh.