Which statement is an important point in this passage? john walden learned all that he could from his schoolteacher. judge straight has practiced law for nearly 50 years. the laws of the time did not allow men of color to practice law.

The laws of time did not allow men of color to practice law.

I think the question asks for which of the sentences in the text state the specific opinion of the author, rather than repeating facts from elsewhere. This sentence is this one: 

With these facts in mind, Americans need to begin working on ways to improve the cleanliness of home areas for their cats

You can see that it's a recommendation through the verb "need to".