Martin Luther King Jr. Day

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” ~ MLK Jr.

Ted and I attended our weekly protest on Saturday, and our Mayor was there, talking about when he was in college, how he (Jewish) and his friends wondered how they would have acted if they had been alive in Nazi Germany. He said, ‘How you would have acted, is how you are acting now.’

I feel like this is the danger we are in today. Not just the ICE agents and Trumpers trying to destroy our country, but also those who stay home and do/say nothing. We can all do something. We can all make a phone call, send an email, write a letter or postcard, attend a protest, donate to a cause. We can all do something. Something. The time is now.

4 Comments

  • Lisa’s Yarns

    I feel quite depressed about the state of the world because a large swath of the population doesn’t think what is happening is problematic! We can’t even agree that there is a problem so how can things change? It’s so awful here in Minneapolis. If you are a person of Latino or Somalian heritage, you have to carry a passport to prove you are a citizen. It is madness!!

  • nance

    Absolutely true. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of Evil is for good men to do nothing.”

    The New York Times today carries this article, about a derisive term for white women that is spreading among the right-wing, MAGA constituency. I’ve provided the link as a gift article from my NYT subscription, so no paywall.

    It’s important to know that you don’t have to write or call just your own congresspeople. You can call and write any/all of them. I often do, since their votes impact me one way or another.

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