The Rev. William Barber II, accompanied by the Revs. Liz Theoharis and Jesse Jackson, speaks to a crowd outside the U.S. Capitol during a Poor People's Campaign rally last year. By Vaneesa Cook Vaneesa Cook teaches courses in U.S. history at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Her book"Spiritual Socialists: Religion and the American Left" will be published in September. April 4 at 6:00 AM On the night of Wednesday, April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr.
But in the 1980s, those success rates stalled and began losing ground. As Fred Harris, a member of the commission, explained on the 50th anniversary follow-up of the report: “We made progress on virtually every aspect of race and poverty for nearly a decade after the Kerner report and then that progress slowed, then stopped and in many ways was reversed, so that today racial and ethnic discrimination is again worsening.
On the one hand, Barber’s activism is indicative of the progress made since King’s assassination. Progressives have carried the struggle for social justice forward into the 21st century, achieving measures of success for women, LGBTQ people, black Americans and other minorities. However, the necessity of Barber’s mission also reflects the limits of progress, reminding us that the achievements of the civil rights era can and have been rolled back and undermined since the 1960s.
Voter suppression and gerrymandering cases are still under review in several states, including North Carolina, Wisconsin and Georgia, a clear sign that civil rights laws as well as the U.S. Constitution have failed to deter voter suppression. The resurgence of white-supremacist rhetoric in recent years also gives lie to the idea that blatant racism in America is consigned to the past. The victories of the 1950s and 1960s civil rights movement, in other words, were never written in stone.
Too many of them distort his work these days.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »