There are consequential moments— Moments when History Calls One’s Name — that compel us to reflect on how, faced with an opponent who stands between us and all our hopes and ambitions, we can realize something even greater. We can — if we have the character to do so — transcend the struggle and achieve a greater goal. I suspect we are witness to such a moment now. At least I think so. And that is why I have set down my thoughts as they occurred on Tuesday morning and today Wednesday afternoon — just before, and shortly after, the primaries in Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Washington, Idaho, and North Dakota. Here they are in two parts. Each was in response to the thoughts of a former student who is a supporter of Bernie Sanders.
PART ONE [composed Tuesday morning, March 10]
While I think it’s more than likely that Bernie Sanders will not win the Democratic nomination, I still believe there is value in his staying in the race until the convention so that the Progressive-Left can continue to influence the direction of the party. I hope that Biden and his supporters will welcome the dialogue that may result.
I also believe that ultimately many of the ideas of the Progressive-Left will become part of the mainstream of the Democratic party. The question is how quickly this will occur. I hope that Sanders’ followers will follow Bernie’s approach and focus relentlessly on the issues they care deeply about, and which matter so much to our nation’s future.
What I learned from the Civil Rights struggles of the ‘60s was that there are critical moments when those who may have only been paying lip service to your cause finally realize that they should — and can — do more. You can do much to move them beyond mere lip service by your attitude and treatment of them.
And I would also share with you the knowledge (which many of us who lived through that time personally witnessed): that even the passing of those believed vital to a movement (MLK, Malcolm, RFK) cannot kill that movement when its time has come.
This is a moment when Sanders and his followers can, if they choose, play a unique role to — as Jesse Jackson said more than three decades ago — “Keep Hope Alive.”
PART TWO [composed Wednesday afternoon, March 11]
It seemed to me that Biden’s speech last night was a first step toward laying out a common goal that all Democrats (and Independents and Republicans of good will) can rally around: Defeating Trump. But it was only a first step, and there is a far larger, equally urgent goal which Sanders’ speech this morning addressed. Indeed, I found myself unexpectedly profoundly moved by how, at once, extraordinarily self-effacing and insightful he was in seizing this instant in our nation’s history to forego the temptation to promote his own candidacy (and, indeed, honestly and even humbly acknowledge the “electability” hurdle he faces).
Instead, he asked Biden the questions he must answer if he is to be the kind of president this moment in our history requires:
1) How will you ensure that health care is a fundamental human right for all Americans;
2) How will you ensure a just and humane place for all those immigrants currently living in terror in this country;
3) How will you ensure that all young people will be able to get a college/trade school education without accumulating a debt that will crush their future hopes?
I had never thought of Sanders as a statesman, but that was as inspiring a display of statesmanship as I have ever seen.
I hope that Biden (and those around him) will recognize this moment for what it is, and will rise to the occasion.
I am reminded in this critical moment of Longfellow’s poem:
Sail on oh ship of state,
Sail on oh union strong and great;
Humanity with all its fears,
With all its hope for future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate.