It’s Martin Luther King day here in the US. I thought I’d celebrate it with an open thread, and with a passage from King’s Where Do We Go From Here (1967), which takes on an added relevance in light of a lot that has happened in the last year or so.
Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a … mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn. … Loose and easy language about equality, resonant resolutions about brotherhood fall pleasantly on the ear, but for the Negro there is a credibility gap he cannot overlook. He remembers that with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that the Negro has come far enough. Each step forward accents an ever-present tendency to backlash.
NOTE: As is always the case with these open threads: No MRAs, no Trolls.
H/T — A Riot Is the Language of the Unheard’: 9 MLK Quotes the Mainstream Media Won’t Cite, by Kali Holloway on AlterNet
@guy
Hope so! If it’s still like this tomorrow I’m gonna be pissed. :p
So frustrated with politics here right now. The racist party is polling at 23% and is now the 2nd largest party. The more mainstream right wing parties, and even the social democrats, are now jumping on the anti refugee bandwagon.
Recently it was decided that we will move away from issuing permanent residence permits and instead offer temporary ones. The reasoning offered in favor of this decision was basically that when the temporary residence permits expires, it might be the case that the situation in the refugee’s country of origin could have changed for the better, in which case they will be sent back. If not, then we can issue another temporary residence permit. What’s the harm, right?
Aaaand now they’re already suggesting people with temporary residence permits shouldn’t have the same rights as other people. Well, fuck.
Specifically they want to limit access to health care for refugees, while hinting that much worse suggestions will follow. They argue that refugees shouldn’t have access to health care since they “haven’t worked for it” – as if people born into citizenship have done anything at all to deserve these rights, other than be lucky.
We’re rapidly moving in the direction of turning “rights” into “privileges”. I used to be proud of this country, and now it’s all gone to shit. Sigh.
Your country is still a beacon and a guiding light to the world in many ways. It’s composed of human beings and it is not in the nature of human beings to be perfect, but you’re still an example to the rest of us.
EDIT:
@Sheila Crosby: Which telescope is that on your picture? I’ve asked before and didn’t see a reply, so apologies if you’ve already told me and I didn’t see it.
@dhag85
Thanks for live-blogging your trip. I was amazed that you took off your gloves to send your incredible photos. That’s brave!
Feel better soon!
@EJ
I honestly don’t know anymore. Even up until a few months ago I would still say there was some truth to that, but now I can’t see how we’re doing any better than other countries whose mainstream politics have been taken over by racist and fascist ideology. I’ll just keep voting for the left (V) or the feminists (F!), because those are the only two parties who haven’t started to chip away at our rights. But sadly they have a combined support of maybe 6-9% of voters and even the social democrats would rather collaborate with right of center parties than with the ones to their left. There’s a major and very unfortunate shift in the Overton window going on.
@Kat
It seemed like the right thing to do. :p I could’t find my touch screen compatible gloves before the trip, so I had no choice. Our lowest temperature was in the morning at Kirkenes airport before getting on the plane back, -28C or -18.4F. And I got pictures there too. 😉
Cosmology *and* dinosaurs; one of my favourite combinations…
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/21/dark-matter-and-dinosaurs-lisa-randall-review
Peaches, I wish I could have sent condolences sooner; I was away on vacation for a week and I do not particularly like trying to view Internet forums on my iPhone.
And belated thanks to those who had kind words for my Poe book work; a family member wished to have it and I happily gifted it to him. He loved it!