Why We Can't Wait gives us a brilliantly intimate glimpse of the thought processes of one of history's greatest leaders. And that strikes me precisely because it often seems like there is no one as patient, forgiving, understanding and strong as this man to lead us through the crisis we are currently experiencing.
King's reasoning for reparations particularly resonates with me. If he hadn't been assassinated, could he have been influential enough to see this policy through? And if we had implemented this policy as a nation during Civil Rights, where would we be now? Would there still be overwhelmingly black ghettos in our American cities? Would police still be regularly murdering black people in our streets? Would the representation of the full spectrum of black and brown skin be commonplace in our media and in our lives? Would white people have been forced to believe in the abilities and innate value of others, or would the current of fear still be running freely?
The other thing that strikes me is the incredible effectiveness of King's nonviolent philosophy, and how it worked because those demonstrators, those who did not retaliate no matter what brutality was visited upon them, had the ineffable power of moral witness (see one of our previous books White Guilt for more on this concept). The scene was one of violence being perpetuated against people who had done nothing wrong, who were blameless, who were sometimes children and elderly people, and after a while white people had no choice but to admit how inherently wrong that was, that something was broken that should probably be fixed.
But today, how many people can say that their moral witness has not been compromised? Of course, we are made to pay attention to the political divides in our nation, seeing generalities as truths and internalizing sensationalism. But it seems to me as if the vitriol in our words, the way we call each other names, publicly vilify one another online, hurl blame loudly around every corner and prop up our "rightness" at all costs is compromising our cause. We are not nonviolent. So many of our words and actions and posts and protest signs are weapons.
So maybe it doesn't matter if we're right if people won't pay attention. Perhaps we haven't spent enough time trying to figure out what makes people listen, what makes people be practically forced to understand, bowled over by that power of moral witness. The other side clearly is not impressed with our current tactics; Facebook posts don't intimidate them; shouts into the voids of our individual, highly-curated news feeds aren't moving the needle even a millimeter. In fact, it is making those who would not understand the cause of anti-racism or anti-sexism or anti-violence retreat farther into fear and disgust, seeing the hypocrisy in our liberal attitudes and actions, seeing the golden thread to pull that unwinds the movement.
What if we didn't give them that thread? What if we took Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words for the utter truth that is in them and followed his example? Perhaps all will not be turned right, just as his famous Dream has not yet come to pass, but we will regain our power of moral witness, one of the most potent powers available in political and human action.
Here are some quotes that stood out to me. Feel free to respond, to add your own or just to reflect.
Quoting Reinhold Niebuhr, "Groups tend to be more immoral than individuals."
"Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use be as pure as the ends we seek."
Quoting T.S. Eliot, "The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason."
"The old order ends, no matter what Bastilles remain, when the enslaved, within themselves, bury the psychology of servitude."
"Injustice was not an evil to be corrected even partially - it was an institution to be defended."
"A social movement that only moves people is merely a revolt. A movement that changes both people and institutions is a revolution."
"Accustomed to ignoring the question, they were forced by its sudden overwhelming presence into a hasty search for absolving tokens."
"The strands of prejudice toward Negroes are tightly wound around the American character."
"What they do not realize is that it is no more possible to be half free than it is to be half alive."
"In that separate culture of poverty in which the half-educated Negro lives, an economic depression rages today. To deal with this disaster by opening some doors to all, and all doors to some, amounts merely to organizing chaos."
King's reasoning for reparations particularly resonates with me. If he hadn't been assassinated, could he have been influential enough to see this policy through? And if we had implemented this policy as a nation during Civil Rights, where would we be now? Would there still be overwhelmingly black ghettos in our American cities? Would police still be regularly murdering black people in our streets? Would the representation of the full spectrum of black and brown skin be commonplace in our media and in our lives? Would white people have been forced to believe in the abilities and innate value of others, or would the current of fear still be running freely?
The other thing that strikes me is the incredible effectiveness of King's nonviolent philosophy, and how it worked because those demonstrators, those who did not retaliate no matter what brutality was visited upon them, had the ineffable power of moral witness (see one of our previous books White Guilt for more on this concept). The scene was one of violence being perpetuated against people who had done nothing wrong, who were blameless, who were sometimes children and elderly people, and after a while white people had no choice but to admit how inherently wrong that was, that something was broken that should probably be fixed.
But today, how many people can say that their moral witness has not been compromised? Of course, we are made to pay attention to the political divides in our nation, seeing generalities as truths and internalizing sensationalism. But it seems to me as if the vitriol in our words, the way we call each other names, publicly vilify one another online, hurl blame loudly around every corner and prop up our "rightness" at all costs is compromising our cause. We are not nonviolent. So many of our words and actions and posts and protest signs are weapons.
So maybe it doesn't matter if we're right if people won't pay attention. Perhaps we haven't spent enough time trying to figure out what makes people listen, what makes people be practically forced to understand, bowled over by that power of moral witness. The other side clearly is not impressed with our current tactics; Facebook posts don't intimidate them; shouts into the voids of our individual, highly-curated news feeds aren't moving the needle even a millimeter. In fact, it is making those who would not understand the cause of anti-racism or anti-sexism or anti-violence retreat farther into fear and disgust, seeing the hypocrisy in our liberal attitudes and actions, seeing the golden thread to pull that unwinds the movement.
What if we didn't give them that thread? What if we took Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words for the utter truth that is in them and followed his example? Perhaps all will not be turned right, just as his famous Dream has not yet come to pass, but we will regain our power of moral witness, one of the most potent powers available in political and human action.
Here are some quotes that stood out to me. Feel free to respond, to add your own or just to reflect.
Quoting Reinhold Niebuhr, "Groups tend to be more immoral than individuals."
"Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use be as pure as the ends we seek."
Quoting T.S. Eliot, "The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason."
"The old order ends, no matter what Bastilles remain, when the enslaved, within themselves, bury the psychology of servitude."
"Injustice was not an evil to be corrected even partially - it was an institution to be defended."
"A social movement that only moves people is merely a revolt. A movement that changes both people and institutions is a revolution."
"Accustomed to ignoring the question, they were forced by its sudden overwhelming presence into a hasty search for absolving tokens."
"The strands of prejudice toward Negroes are tightly wound around the American character."
"What they do not realize is that it is no more possible to be half free than it is to be half alive."
"In that separate culture of poverty in which the half-educated Negro lives, an economic depression rages today. To deal with this disaster by opening some doors to all, and all doors to some, amounts merely to organizing chaos."