On January 6, 2021, a horde of Donald Trump adherents numbering in the thousands — incited by the president himself — mounted an armed takeover of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
It was the most deliberate attempt to overthrow the government of the United States since the Civil War.
As more and more details emerge about the planning and execution of the insurrection, it is clear that the seditionists were animated by their resentment — stoked by Donald Trump and other politicians, amplified by Fox News and social media — toward changing demographics in America.
Many of us recognize the ongoing reality of white supremacism for the very real threat it is — as a kind of defect in our national DNA (and going all the way back to 1492) that we still have not invested anywhere near enough in curing.
So — on a day when we honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. — I wanted to share a few of Dr. King’s insightful and inspiring words:
From King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (April 16, 1963):
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler 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 cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”
From King’s “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech at Riverside Church (April 4, 1967):
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. ... We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
From King’s speech announcing the Poor People’s March on Washington (December 4, 1967):
America is at a crossroads of history, and it is critically important for us, as a nation and a society, to choose a new path and move upon it with resolution and courage. ... Consider, for example, the spectacle of ... a nation gorged on money while millions of its citizens are denied a good education, adequate health services, decent housing, meaningful employment, and even respect, and are then told to be responsible.
For justice,
- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
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