In the end, however, none of these Presidents fashioned the program which was to mark him as historically great by patiently awaiting a consensus. Instead, each was propelled into action by a mass movement which did not necessarily reflect an overwhelming majority. What the movement lacked in support was less significant than the fact that it had championed the key issue of the hour. President Kennedy was forced by Birmingham and the tumultuous actions it stimulated to offer to Congress the Civil Rights Bill. Roosevelt was impelled by labor, farmers and small-businessmen to commit the government in revolutionary depth to social welfare as a constituent stimulus to the economy. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation under the pressure of war needs. The overwhelming national consensus followed their acts; it did not precede them.
King, if he were still alive today, would regard President Barack Obama as a technician. What former policy director for Obama's senate campaign Raja Krishnamoorthi told the Financial Times in 2008, "He has the rare ability to cut to the heart of issues very quickly and make decisions that synthesize the various views on the table. It is really something to behold. It is not an instinct everybody has," would not be reason for celebration. And, the prime reason would be that consensus to the civil rights movement would have meant finding agreement with the Ku Klux Klan or proponents of the white power structure that was oppressing black communities.
Liberals on the ground should consider King's words on consensus. They should wonder if they could have won better health reform if they had known the wisdom of King. They should ask if they were wrong to back off when the power of the Tea Party's wholesale sabotage and obstruction of health reform and Blue Dogs like Sen. Max Baucus became a force that stunted the possibility of advancing Medicare for All and even a public option. Their willingness to let Obama and Democrats in Congress determine what the scope of reform would be ensured the insurance companies got the kind of legislation they could emasculate and manipulate now as they work with leaders in Washington to write regulations.
There is no movement for health care for all making noise right now. That noise could further advance an agenda to address poverty and economic inequality in this country. That noise could empower and help protect labor, which is now facing persecution from Democratic and Republican governors that believe they must fight public workers in order to balance state budgets. But, sadly, there are few individuals in the streets fighting to end injustice.
"Let Justice Roll Down" was also instructive on the power of a grassroots movement. Nowadays, many are skeptical of the utility of activism or resistance. People question why people even try to take on the elites or oligarchy through protest because they do not see it making a difference. King confronted that skepticism:
Are demonstrations of any use, some ask, when resistance is so unyielding? Would the slower processes of legislation and law enforcement ultimately accomplish greater results more painlessly? Demonstrations, experience has shown, are part of the process of stimulating legislation and law enforcement. The federal government reacts to events more quickly when a situation of conflict cries out for its intervention. Beyond this, demonstrations have a creative effect on the social and psychological climate that is not matched by the legislative process. Those who have lived under the corrosive humiliation of daily intimidation are imbued by demonstrations with a sense of courage and dignity that strengthens their personalities. Through demonstrations, Negroes learn that unity and militance have more force than bullets. They find that the bruises of clubs, electric cattle prods and fists hurt less than the scars of submission. And segregationists learn from demonstrations that Negroes who have been taught to fear can also be taught to be fearless. Finally, the millions of Americans on the sidelines learn that inhumanity wears an official badge and wields the power of law in large areas of the democratic nation of their pride.
King confronted the role of the police, which functioned as keepers of the white power structure. To the extent that racism or inequality persists, police are still keepers of that structure. Only now people of America are inundated with shows on television and Hollywood movies that dramatize or present the experience of what it is like to be a cop. So, one is more understanding of police when acts of police brutality like the murder of Oscar Grant in Oakland or the shooting of Sean Bell in the New York City borough of Queens, NY. And, Americans find it difficult to understand the protest and riots that spring up in communities as a response to the violence.
White liberals, including myself, cannot understand the sense of empowerment Negroes enjoyed as they resisted systemic racism in the 1960s. Today, white liberals cannot understand the feeling that Latino immigrants enjoy when they stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters and struggle for equality and emancipation in this country. They cannot fully grasp how brown-skinned Muslims feel when they step out and stand in solidarity with one another to defend their rights in this country (and, in fact, this is rare because they are deeply afraid of deportation and criminalization that might lead them to end up in prisons like Guantanamo).
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