5 ms·

I want to call out this part, which is just as relevant today as it was 60+ years ago: > I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almos

by jmyeet 10mo ago

I want to call out this part, which is just as relevant today as it was 60+ years ago: > 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. What MLK is talking about how the "white moderate" sides with the oppressors by defending the status quo and choosing "order" over progress. This is the exact schism that currently exists in the Democratic Party today. If you pay attention to American politics, you'll probably have an idea that there is a civil war within the Democratic Party between "liberals" and "leftists". "Liberals", the same "white moderates", defend American imperialism, want to put a smiley face on ICE rather than abolishing it and basically just want to be "Republican lite". These policies are deeply unpoular with the base, such the the net approval of the Democratic Party is at historic lows [1]. This isn't incompetence. It's a choice to favor the donor class and their future job prospects over the interests of their base. A lot of these "white moderates" today get angry at leftists (way more than at Republicans, ironically) for being "single issue voters" about Palestine since that's now become a litmus test for candidates in primary season. First, they don't understand what a single issue voter actually is. Second, and more importantly, there's not a single politician who has a good stance on racial justice and equality, women's rights and so on that has a bad position on Palestine. There is a refusal to see how these things are interconnected. [1]: https://civiqs.com/results/favorable_democrats?uncertainty=true&zoomIn=true&annotations=true https://civiqs.com/results/favorable_democrats?uncertainty=t...

ndiddy 10mo ago
You can see it in the Democratic party leadership's response to Renee Good's murder. Cory Booker just proposed ( https://x.com/SenBooker/status/2011795625835114641 https://x.com/SenBooker/status/2011795625835114641 ) that ICE should be reformed by adopting higher training standards and requiring body cameras, when her killer was a 10-year ICE veteran and Good's murder was caught on three different cameras. The only practical response to the situation in Minneapolis is abolishing ICE, firing every employee from the top to the bottom, forbidding by law whatever agency replaces ICE from hiring anyone who has ever previously worked there, and appointing a special prosecutor to vigorously investigate any wrongdoing by former agents. Unfortunately, we're stuck with an opposition party with no clear vision and leadership that would rather do nothing even when their inaction leads to major social unrest and injustice.
- shimman 10mo ago
  Cory Booker is the definition of performative opposition. He is a theater kid in DC. Still can't believe how many fools thought he was accomplishing something by filibustering nothing for about a day. I'm sure it got him many donations to pay his friends + family nice consulting jobs tho.
  - blackqueeriroh 10mo ago
    Who are you? What’s your background, and why are you increasing the acrimony in comments instead of t opposite, as the rules call for?
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
    - defrost 10mo ago
      On the face of they are clearly some who believes, rightly or wrongly, that Booker is all hat and no cattle, only in the game for the contacts and donations. That's certainly an opinion, and one that can ideally be countered with some key highlights from Bookers career that dispel that view and might even cause them to reconsider their opinion. You know, as the HN guidelines encourage.
doctorpangloss 10mo ago
While I agree that supporting "status quo" is a central part of electability in US politics, by all means, if you have strong opinions about things, go get elected. Go run. There are plenty of places where you can become very powerful without having to go through a primary - all Louisiana offices, San Francisco, and numerous non-partisan roles throughout government everywhere, and anyway, you can get RCV passed, just like it is in some big US cities, which is to say... You're talking about ideas that keep failing in elections, and then you demand just one more election but with different voters, and then find out that voters there don't like it either, so at what point do you admit you are wrong? That your idea of "good stance" is actually a "bad stance"? Another POV is, your grievance is, fundamentally, projection.

by jmyeet 10mo ago

ndiddy 10mo ago

You can see it in the Democratic party leadership's response to Renee Good's murder. Cory Booker just proposed ( https://x.com/SenBooker/status/2011795625835114641 https://x.com/SenBooker/status/2011795625835114641 ) that ICE should be reformed by adopting higher training standards and requiring body cameras, when her killer was a 10-year ICE veteran and Good's murder was caught on three different cameras. The only practical response to the situation in Minneapolis is abolishing ICE, firing every employee from the top to the bottom, forbidding by law whatever agency replaces ICE from hiring anyone who has ever previously worked there, and appointing a special prosecutor to vigorously investigate any wrongdoing by former agents. Unfortunately, we're stuck with an opposition party with no clear vision and leadership that would rather do nothing even when their inaction leads to major social unrest and injustice.

shimman 10mo ago
Cory Booker is the definition of performative opposition. He is a theater kid in DC. Still can't believe how many fools thought he was accomplishing something by filibustering nothing for about a day. I'm sure it got him many donations to pay his friends + family nice consulting jobs tho.
- blackqueeriroh 10mo ago
  Who are you? What’s your background, and why are you increasing the acrimony in comments instead of t opposite, as the rules call for?
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - defrost 10mo ago
    On the face of they are clearly some who believes, rightly or wrongly, that Booker is all hat and no cattle, only in the game for the contacts and donations. That's certainly an opinion, and one that can ideally be countered with some key highlights from Bookers career that dispel that view and might even cause them to reconsider their opinion. You know, as the HN guidelines encourage.

doctorpangloss 10mo ago

While I agree that supporting "status quo" is a central part of electability in US politics, by all means, if you have strong opinions about things, go get elected. Go run. There are plenty of places where you can become very powerful without having to go through a primary - all Louisiana offices, San Francisco, and numerous non-partisan roles throughout government everywhere, and anyway, you can get RCV passed, just like it is in some big US cities, which is to say... You're talking about ideas that keep failing in elections, and then you demand just one more election but with different voters, and then find out that voters there don't like it either, so at what point do you admit you are wrong? That your idea of "good stance" is actually a "bad stance"? Another POV is, your grievance is, fundamentally, projection.