a few words about the timeliness of cindy's action

[mopinko]

some of you seem to be pretending that you are pointing out some unique and well considered criticism of an activist for peace and justice.
i don't think so.


April 16, 1963

MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

snip

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.


http://www.thekingcenter.org/prog/non/letter.html

[Kire]

1. who are "some of you"?

what is the criticism? is cindy in jail?

[ret5hd]

2. way to go, mopinko...

:thumbsup:

[LSK]

3. I am not so sure

"While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo."

I am not so sure that the comparison is the same. Let us not forget that we have at least one Senator who has his son in Iraq - Jim Webb.

[mopinko]

7. we also have a boatload of moderates

who voted for this war.
we wait on them to do the hard things at our peril. i want this war ended ASAP. not a day longer. no honeymoons. not a day wasted.
and remember that there are some who would like to end the war, but do not have the courage. this gives them the out- i must answer to the voters.

i look at it as cindy sending them off, for their first day of school, with a nice stiff starched shirt.

[femrap]

8. That's a great way of putting it....

off to school with a new stiffly starched shirt.

I don't think people realize the power of "We, the People." The politicians look at us, We, the People as "THE BEAST." We, the People are the ones that make the country go one way or the other. So many of the American people look to Washington for Leaders. They're NOT the leaders...they are our REPRESENTATIVES. We are the Leaders. And those politicians in DC are scared to death of us. When We, the People get our act together, we're unstoppable.

Thank Goddess for People like Cindy....now that's a Leader.

[Reterr]

4. kr.eom

[noamnety]

5. kicked and recommended.

That is one of my favorite letters, precisely because it doesn't seek to appease the oh-so-helpful folks who claim to agree with the cause but wish people weren't so darn pushy in fighting for it.


"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 Councilor 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."

[mopinko]

12. lots of shallow understanding around here, that is for sure.

i find myself often bewildered by lukewarm acceptance.
people complain about pushy people, but they all like to drive that rode after it is paved.

[Tom Joad]

6. Some Christians think this letter should be included in the Christian New Testament.

It should be read and pondered, no doubt about that.

[midnight]

9. Sounds like Cindy is in fine company with Martin Luther King.

He would certainly have Cindy's back on not waiting for the status quo to get their ducks in a row. Thanks Cindy.

[druidity33]

10. Nice parallel. K&R n/t

[trumad]

11. Word

K&R

[mdmc]

13. Don't put off what can be done today

till tomorrow

[Bake]

14. Good point, mopinko

I have raised questions about Sheehan's actions yesterday, but I have to grant that you make an excellent point. The King parallel is certainly valid. I still question Sheehan's tactics, but there is nothing wrong with holding the Dems' feet to the fire as well as the other party's.

Thanks for posting this.

Bake

[mdmc]

15. remember

the Dems can always bar the left from attending their functions, just like the pukes do. We can do that also, but why...