This diary is simply to shine a light on a most outstanding comment that was posted by nwgates in my diary titled "I keep reading that we need a discussion on 'race'".
Although it was posted there, it mostly refers back to a diary that I posted on 8/15/2011 titled "Every DKos Obama Critic Should Read This."
I feel that this comment is every bit as powerful and on point as the one I wanted to highlight in the original diary, and it reflects what I had hoped would be the type of conversation generated by the original diary.
I'll shut up now.
(nwgates had mentioned possibly making a diary of this himself. If such a diary appears, I will delete this one.)
(Bold added by me for those not inclined to read it all.)
I was amazed (naive, certainly) at how many folks completely missed the point yesterday. If I had more time, I have a diary in my head about it.
Many comments seemed to boil down to "we are in a big crisis, so we don't have time for this quaint "civil rights" struggle. If being black is a liability, then we shouldn't elect black people. But of course, I don't really think that, so the diarist is wrong. Move along."
I liked the last line of the quote from yesterday's diary of yours, which was something to the effect of stating that to understand this approach, one must be open to the possibility that it contains something that they don't already know.
Somehow, the civil rights struggle is viewed as only about civil rights for black people. Or perhaps gays. Or farmworkers. If that is what is truly believed, we are impoverishing ourselves.
In my view, the civil rights movement embodies a particular approach to entrenched power structures. Viewed in this light, it is the perfect approach for this moment. The power center of this country has moved out of the government and into the private sector- a very, very small part of the private sector.
I think that many white folks, such as myself (white, male 32 years old) are used to habitually getting what we want out of social interactions. Assertion/aggression is rewarded in those who are of privilige.
It is one approach, but at this point in time, where what is needed is to overcome a power center that has moved beyond elected accountability, we can perhaps learn from the most effective approach to resisting entrenched power that has ever existed in the human race.