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Showing posts from December, 2014

The White Moderate

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Unfortunately, the white moderate is still the problem. “First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor 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 can't agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewa

Not Every Blank is X

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It's no coincidence that the truths that make us feel the most uncomfortable are the ones so many of us feel the need to try to soften or outright deflect with phrases like, "Not every blank is X." You see, we don’t like to deal in truth as humans. The truth is messy and uncomfortable and scary, and it often means accepting that our march through life takes place contrary to our wishes and fantasies. We tend to spend a lot of our lives wanting and acting like something or someone is a particular way despite evidence to the contrary. And that’s often why we suffer and are unhappy. But it’s precisely because a truth makes us uncomfortable that we must needs confront it. It is only by dealing with something directly and honestly as it is, not as we want it to be, that anything can be changed. Running from the truth only makes things worse. It makes it worse for you, for me, for them, for everyone.  If your go-to response is, “Well, not every blank is X,” not only ar