2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Imagine if our civil rights champions had the same disdain for pragmatism as some BS supporters have [View all]DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)That trying to change the system was not pragmatic. They even shot both MLK and Malcolm X to show that people were willing to kill anyone that dared step out of line. It is one thing to say things take time and need to be worked out in courts, but that only work IF consistent, constant pressure is placed on those who are comfortable with power. No, I am not talking revolutions or displays or other stuff some BS supporters ask for, but the clear message that no, those in power, you cannot have things the way you used to. Every pragmatist, from FDR to MLK, can offer practical steps, but they also made it clear that no, their opponents were not going to be able to sweet talk or threaten to get back the "good old days", even if they did manage to assassinate a few people.
but then again, MLK says this better than I ever could: in Letter from a Birmingham Jail
" I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negros great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens 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 mans freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a more convenient season."