@Blickers,
As I said, the man's words speak for him.
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First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. 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." 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.
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.
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It is so easy to see the work of Bernie Sanders as a continuation of MLK's work. Martin died planning a Poor People's Protest and march as a Democratic Socialist - sound familiar? The incrementalism that the so-called American liberals espouse makes all the right noises, but withholds true economic freedom, still. Bernie has been the first presidential candidate to agree with progressives that the US systems are rife with institutional racism - and he has vowed to put an end to it. If it weren't for him, none of the candidates would be making police and prison reform an important part of their platforms.
No matter what neoliberals say, King's words and works speak undeniably and clearly. So do Bernie's.
The cause is right. The time is now.
Clinton's waiting and excuses and incrementalism and telling black girls to hush and get lost with their complaints is the most accurate symbol of King's opposition as exists in current American politics.
I'm thrilled to conduct Socratic Seminars over the text, and see the kids in my specific area grapple with these facts.
If I could just get a few of them to leave their Trump caps in the truck...
