. . . Not the Ku Klux Klan, but the white moderate

[gollygee]

I thought of this quote as I read this thread this morning: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025876563

[cali]

1. I don't know. I don't think the KKK is the biggest stumbling block

it's vastly diminished since MLK made that remark, but I'm not sure how you even define a white moderate. I think the biggest stumbling block is institutional racism.

[gollygee]

2. which is enforced and maintained

largely by white moderates.

Here's a definition:
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan, nor radical. In recent years, the term political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword. The existence of the ideal moderate is disputed because of a lack of a moderate political ideology.

[cali]

3. How do white moderates enforce institutional racism? beyond that

institutional behavior is a structure that goes far beyond the individual.

I just think the term moderate is meaningless. Racists such as Guiliani and the majority of republicans are the ones that perpetrate racism, along with powerful corporations and individuals such as the Kochs. Many high profile corporations give lip service to equality while massively funding efforts to disenfranchise minority voters via redistricting.

[gollygee]

4. White moderates is another way of saying

"Most white people" and excluding radicals like the KKK.

And institutions are run by "most white people." "Most white people" do the hiring, firing, run the courts, run the police, and don't think of themselves as racist.

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. Here ... This might be helpful ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025876563

[Half-Century Man]

17. A White Moderate is one so comfortable in their white privilege they project

it as an all encompassing blanket, and fail to see it is race based.

Evil doesn't have to work all that hard, if good is idle.

[appalachiablue]

19. I wish that great phrase, 'evil doesn't have to work that hard, if good is idle' could reach

many open minded people who are unaware, uninformed and still grazing M$M. The only way is through an independent, accessible media created by Dems. and left but that will never happen b/c 'we have the internet' and in spite of the DNC's and this country's vast wealth.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. And yet in the context of the time, the KKK were perceived to be a greater stumbling block

but King was pointing out that the moderates who called for slower change, effectively asking people to wait for their rights,were ialso working in favor of oppression.

I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the 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 someone else's freedom who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.'

[antiquie]

15. Thank you for the context of Dr. Kings words.

There was no period after the word moderate.

[CreekDog]

18. King's words are more timeless than yours

I mean, yours aren't even right!

[JustAnotherGen]

5. By golly!

There's truth in them thar words!

[freshwest]

7. Like the lyrics:

A lot of people don't have much food on their table

But they got a lot of forks n' knives

And they gotta cut somethin'.

~ Bob Dylan

And these, too:

As through this world you travel,

you'll meet some funny men;

Some will rob you with a six-gun,

and some with a fountain pen.

~ Woodie Guthrie

It's better to deal with an out and out villain than a quiet liar. And as a small time rural banker told me when I asked why they fussed so much over a small loan, he said people steal a thousand times more with a fountain pen than with a gun. Ain't people clever...

[ColesCountyDem]

8. ""In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." . n/t

[m-lekktor]

10. Yup.

[KingCharlemagne]

11. This quote is a tiny smidgen of the 1963 'Letter from the Birmingham Jail,' and

it bears placing the quote within a slightly larger context:

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.

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html (Emphasis added)

The final two sentences of that paragraph are the ones that sticks with me, fwiw.

[gollygee]

12. Thanks for adding that!! n/t

[tblue]

14. Much more powerful in context.

Thanks. It hurts the heart.

[99Forever]

13. This applies accross the board, "moderates" aren't the solution...

... they are the problem.

[stupidicus]

16. yep

It's the road to hell many travel while paving it with their "good intentions" -- like giving that "crazy racist uncle" a pass over the peace dividend it pays, etc.

Trepagnier says that some whites become detached from the race issue while others are so concerned with it that they become apprehensive about it, avoiding even the mention of the topic. In both cases, this passive stance silently provides the racist actions of others an endorsement, or worse, encouragement. http://www.txstate.edu/news/news_releases/news_archive/2007/06/SilentRacism062707.html

MLK had something to say about the consent of silence too, no?

I

n the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth103571.html#RW3oQ1W9SgWWmvfr.99