"You have

never known a world where people were judged by the color of their skin,"

Andrew Young told second and third grade students at Spring Hill Elementary

in Fayetteville Wednesday morning. "We are all children of God and

citizens of these United States. We all have the same opportunity to live

together as brothers and sisters."

Young, former

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and mayor of Atlanta, was introduced

to the children by his granddaughter, Spring Hill second grader Lena Alston.

She is the daughter of Lisa and Douglas Alston of Fayetteville.

During the

first half-hour of his visit, Young talked to fourth and fifth graders

about the meaning of being an ambassador. He painted a very personal profile

of his relationship with the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the younger

students.

As a boy, Young

said he often got into fights with his younger brother. "We used

to wash dishes together," Young recalled. "He'd find a speck

on the dish and put it back in the greasy water and I'd have to do it

all over. I hit him. Then my father would take off his belt and spank

me.

"Martin

Luther King tried to teach us that when we have disagreements, it's not

good to fight," he continued. "We have to learn to solve our

problems without getting angry.

"I was

told, don't get mad, get smart. When someone tried to make you mad, don't

let them... be smart, be cool."

He related

his experience to worldwide conflicts "when people disagree and immediately

start fighting... one hits one then the other one hits back."

Young asked

the children if they knew the Bible verse referring to "an eye for

an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

"Martin

Luther King said if we really did that all the time, we would end up with

a world where everyone was blind and toothless."

Young said

he was 25 years old and a minister in Georgia when he met King, who was

then a minister in Alabama.

"We were

friends. I worked for him as his assistant the last eight years before

he died," said Young. "Almost everywhere we went, a crowd of

people showed up; he was very popular."

Young was with

King the day he was shot in Memphis at the age of 39. "It was a time

when people were divided... people didn't understand what he wanted to

do.

"When

he was shot, not many knew who he was...he was more powerful in death

than in life," Young said of King. "When one dies, it's not

the end. They go on living their lives through others."

Young explained

that King's life and spirit live on through the work being carried on

Andrew Young

was a leader in the civil rights movement, a member of Congress and Ambassador

to the United Nations. He served in President Jimmy Carter's Cabinet and

is an expert on Africa.