In an earlier post, in my Postblackhistory blog, I briefly discussed King's critique of American culture during the post-War years of the 1950s and 60s and I linked to his speech in opposition to the War in Vietnam. In that post I was trying to lay out the broader and deeper meaning of the movements, beyond single issues of Civil Rights and Vietnam.
King exemplified the interconnectedness of what appear, at first blush, to be single movements, ideas and events. The logic of the non-violent protest against racial discrimination in the United States, led to the ability to strengthen the movement to protect the rights and interests of poor people, who are usually exploited and oppressed, and the need for the United States to address the contradiction of praising a non-violent response to violence within the U.S. while increasingly relying on military "solutions" abroad.
In the end, I think it is important to study the King movement from the standpoint of its being a struggle to resolve an essential and ongoing Constitutional crisis that the United States was wrestling with during its first 200 years: i.e., a nation that was a White supremacist "democracy".
I think it is also important to understand the King movement in terms of its role in enabling people of all races to overcome their fears and act on the basis of principle and moral courage. This is a very difficult thing to do, and carries social, financial, and physical consequences; but it requires exercising the human capacity to transcend oneself, to make sacrifices, to break out of the trap of complacency and short-term desires -- and even needs -- and live in sphere that is much greater than the illusion of the "individual," apart from a larger social, environmental, and historical context and mission.
I am interested in continuing to explore the historic, political, social, cultural and economic aspects of all of this.
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