11:15 am
Quotes of the Day
Given all the anger and hatred of the crowds at the McCain-Palin campaign events, some thoughts from two great Americans that have particular relevance to what’s going on right now.
First, James Baldwin, from The Fire Next TIme:
If we — and. . .I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create the consciousness of the others — do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country and change the history of the world
Second, Martin Luther King, from Letter from a Birmingham Jail:
I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one direcly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
Both quotes from the first volume of Reporting Civil Rights, the Library of America’s fine collection. If you have never read Baldwin, do so — he is an American Orwell.