The gathering on the mall was called "The March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom." And while it wasn't spontaneous,
it wasn't carefully planned either. But what it was a watershed moment in the
history of the civil rights movement. Never before -- and never since -- has a
gathering of that magnitude taken place in that place. Is it really 58 years in
the past?
It was there that the rest of the world met Martin Luther
King, Jr. King was a Southern preacher who knew how to put words
together. The gathering was fairly evenly divided between blacks and
whites and the stage show that accompanied it was more white than black. It
galvanized thinking on civil rights and inspired legislation galore. Good legislation.
What we're seeing today is a stunning reversal of the
thinking that went into that march. We're seeing good legislation
weakened or shot down or saddled with conditions that might as well be
reversals. We're seeing the south rise again.
This march wasn't about Martin Luther
King, it was about us. It was about the voting rights act. It was about
dozens of court decisions dragging us from the 19th and early to mid-20th
century forward.
But what has happened is what always
happens when a major movement loses its figurehead. That's the first step
toward death of a movement because now there's no real leadership. What
happens in every case I can think of, is that when the figurehead is
disfigured, the underlings take over and either fight or diffuse. The
thing loses steam and dies. Countermovements develop, especially in the
case of minority rights where there already was a stone wall in place.
King’s assassination in 1968 was the
beginning of the end. Not because he was murdered, but because
eventually, competing minor interests take over and everyone scatters.
Sometimes there are aftershocks.
We’re having one of those now. At the moment, the culture is experiencing
a revitalization. But so is the countermovement. Diversity has become
the latest Hula Hoop or video game.
The countermovement figurehead now is
trump. And as evidenced lately, he’s no longer necessary. The
leadership has been taken over by people like Florida’s governor. Or the
Senator from Texas. Or the minority leader of the Senate. Or some attention
whore on Fox News or one of Fox’s minor offspring.
SHRAPNEL:
--Ed Asner was one of the good guys.
Livened up the union meetings he attended and was on the correct side of most
political issues. Asner died this weekend at age 91.
--One day left for the US to get out of Afghanistan. To be followed by the bodies of the American servicemen who died trying to help our Afghan allies out. They arrived at Dover Airbase Sunday and from there will be taken home.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own
but you’re welcome to them. ®
Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com
© WR 2021
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