Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned 82 on Monday. On a day where every American should have been reflecting on the momentous occasion of a hero’s birth, shots rang out in the streets of New Orleans, and a life was taken in our very own backyard.

The shooting murder on Freret Street was one of four murders in the city on a day revered for peace. The spike in violence raises a very serious question of our society: will we ever be able to give the hatred a rest?

More than for a specific race or sex, King’s most important message was one of peace, love and respect for all of mankind. It is truly astounding that on this day, above all others, there are still individuals who disrespect human life so much as to take the life of another, leaving them bloody and broken on the side of the road.

However, while the four murders on Monday are especially shocking, they are also typical of New Orleans. Nola.gov, the city’s official website, lists the crime statistics as presented by the New Orleans Police Department. In 2009, there were 174 murders. There were also 98 reported rapes, 733 armed robberies and 1,410 assaults – among other crimes like burglaries, thefts and simple robberies. In total, there were 15,558 indexed crimes.

Based on these statistics and the 2009 population of the city, one in about every 25 people will have a crime committed against them.

This was a week in which we were asked to think about peace and freedom, about how far we’ve come since the tumultuous days of the Civil Rights movement in the deep South.

Instead, our thoughts were stolen by criminals and made to think of hatred and fear. In the last days of this week of peace, stand up and dare to hope that somewhere in the hearts of the evil is a glimmer of the peace of which King preached.