There have been a number of comments here that John L. Lewis “earned” the right to call Trump an illegitimate president by his sacrifices to secure civil rights for all. This is not only wrong, it’s dangerously wrong.
Lewis did not have to earn his rights. He was born with them. Depriving him of them and forcing him to act to get them recognized was illegal and immoral, though the wrongness of it was partially masked by the corrupt mores of the time. But a truncheon doesn’t trump the Constitution.
For his sacrifices in the cause of civil rights, Lewis earns respect, trust, even veneration. He earns recognition for the depth of experience he brings to discussion of these questions. But he doesn’t earn his right to say what he thinks. He had that before he said half a word about Trump. Before a racist cop cracked his skull. Before anything. He could only be deprived of it the same way a mugger might deprive you of your wallet: robbery with violence.
No one has to earn their rights. That’s a small but important point to keep in mind.