MARYSVILLE – Growing up in the Deep South in the 1950s and ‘60s, Charles Morgan was called every name in the book.

As a black man, he was made to feel inferior by society. At the time, some blacks even tried to lighten their skin “to be more appealing,” he said.

But when he transferred to an all-white private school in the seventh grade, he had “one of the best experiences of his life.”

Morgan, who later signed with Anaheim in the old World Football League and is now an international inspirational speaker, talked to students at Marysville Getchell and Marysville Pilchuck high schools this week in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Born in 1953 in rural Louisiana, Morgan grew up scared and angry. In early years in school, he had the task of going through books and erasing pencil marks in them and generally cleaning them up.

“The books were hand-me-downs from the white schools,” he said. “I wondered why we were not good enough for brand new books.”

But when he went to the all-white school he felt accepted. He excelled at football, and that helped. He could stay at their houses, watch TV and chill. He said he was told, “You’re not black. You are one of us.”

Morgan said he gained his self-respect from a white culture that had taken it away from him previously.

A tailback, he received a scholarship to play football at a small college. But he transferred to USC and walked on his junior year. His goal was to go pro. He played behind Anthony Davis, one of many Trojan superstars of that decade. He was injured before he could play in the WFL.

Morgan said his dad was his hero. He grew up in the time that blacks were separate but equal. He was called “boy” and had to go through the back door to be served. He wanted to be a doctor but had to quit school after 8th grade to work. But he taught his children to treat others with respect, even if they were not treated respectfully.

His dad taught him to love others.

“Hate poisons the soul,” Morgan said his dad taught him. “You’ll not see what a wonderful world it is.”

He said racial issues are starting to bubble up again in this country.

“Things we thought were solved are not solved,” he said. “We need repair and healing.”

Morgan said MLK’s teachings are as relevant today as ever.

“Don’t forget people, black and white, who gave their lives for civil rights,” he said.

He warned the students not to fall victim of other great nations that have fallen throughout history – from within rather from outside forces.

“We are entertained to death,” he said.

Morgan explained that Americans tend to care too much about celebrities and not enough about character traits such as values, commitment and sacrifice.

He said to right 350 years of wrong, there needs to be sacrifice.

“What is love without sacrifice? It’s going to cost us something to arrive there,” he said. “We as a race have never had therapy.”

Morgan said if MLK was alive today, he would be sick of the political mudslinging. He said the middle class is shrinking and for the first time in our nation’s history small businesses are closing faster than they are opening.

“Despite its problems America is still worth fighting for,” Morgan said to loud applause from the 1,000 students.