2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumA Letter from Birmingham: MLK, Bernie Sanders and the Black Church
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidhenson/2016/01/a-letter-from-birmingham-mlk-bernie-sanders-and-the-black-church/
Cara McClure, co-founder of BLM
Our Dear Alabama Clergy:
In 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote A Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Youve probably read it, just as I have. It was a stunning letter, addressed primarily to Birminghams white moderate who preferred the absence of tension to the struggle for liberation. In it, King said he was more frustrated and disappointed with the white moderates inaction than he was with white supremacists outright hate in the city.
---snip---
So like King, I must make some honest confessions to you, my Christian brothers, sisters, and leaders in the Black church. Like King was with white moderates, I have been gravely disappointed with my lukewarm brothers and sisters in the Black church as our communities continue to face modern iterations of the same old injustices against Black people police brutality, socioeconomic inequality, unequal educational opportunities, and high rates of incarceration without taking to the streets to proclaim Black Lives Matter.
Not only that, but we have gravitated toward a candidate Hillary Clinton that in many ways is representative of todays version of the white moderates to whom King addressed his famous jailhouse letter. Today, the Black community in Alabama seems poised to vote for the very white moderate committed to public lip service and political inaction that King called worse than outright white supremacists.
Maybe its because weve forgotten the political legacy of the Clintons. Maybe weve forgotten the role the Clintons played in accelerating and deepening the problem of mass incarceration with their tough on crime agenda that has disproportionately caged Black people. Maybe weve forgotten the role the Clintons played in recreating a welfare system deeply divided along racial biases with more punitive penalties for Black people.
A powerful endorsement indeed...well worth reading in it's entirety...at the link.
MissDeeds
(7,499 posts)Be sure to click on the link. The concluding paragraphs are especially powerful.
Thanks, NorthCarolina
K&R
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)and thanks for the kick. I was very pleased to stumble across this letter. Hope that all DU'ers regardless of who they support will take a few minutes to read it in it's entirety.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)It appears you don't believe Cara's endorsement of Bernie will have much affect based on your post. I am curious what your thoughts are concerning BLM with regard to this election cycle? Do you think BLM support for Sanders will help sway voters, or do you think BLM is powerless to change hearts and minds?
ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)MuseRider
(34,060 posts)there is time. The snips are very good.
Thank you.
Ino
(3,366 posts)a Nightly Show analysis
Faux pas
(14,583 posts)Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)If/when Bernie wins Iowa and New Hampshire, there can be a full court press to get his message out to persons of color. Endorsements like this will be extremely helpful if Bernie is to do well in the Southern states.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)this is just another, "Dr. King would just love Bernie (and hate HRC)" OP ... completely devoid of the intellectual honesty of Dr. King.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,112 posts)Thanks for the thread, NorthCarolina.