Forty-five years to the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his much-acclaimed "I Have a Dream" speech, America has taken another giant step towards equality for all.

Two-score and five years after the civil rights leader said: "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," one of the country's dominant political parties took the precedent-setting measure of nominating a person of color to the highest political office in the land.

Four-and-a-half decades after King prayed: "Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado," attendees at the Democratic National Convention in Denver heard these words from Barack Obama: "With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States."

No matter your inclination or party affiliation, Thursday marked an important date in our nation's history. Obama stands as the first African-American to top a major party's ticket.

Times have changed since Dr. King delivered his famous words from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963. Gone from the American landscape are vestiges of separate-but-equal. While segregation still exists, at least officially sanctioned practice of it has disappeared. Great strides have been made in the corporate world, in the public sector, with educational opportunities and in the chance for advancement in U.S. society.

Aug. 28, 2008, will be remembered as the day a huge hurdle was cleared in the political arena as well.

America is not so color-blind that divisions are not seen to this day.

As Barack Obama's uncle, Said Obama of Kenya, observed: "Race is a problem in America. But let's hope that Americans are going to address the problems that are bedeviling the country."

Indeed, great strides are being made.

Barack Obama was not nominated to lead the Democratic Party this November because he is black. Likewise, he will not be elected president -- should that happen -- because he is black.

If elected, it will be because a dream has come true. It will be because Dr. King's vision so passionately described 45 years ago has come to fruition: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' "

Barack Obama is proof -- at the highest level -- that the United States is ready to practice what's been preached since the nation's founding. America should be proud of itself.

Editorial by Patrick Lowry

plowry@dailynews.net