On the 4th of July, Remember John Lewis' Warning About Jan. 6th.
Moments before standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial at the 1963 March on Washington, John Lewis frantically re-worked his remarks in response to organizers fears that his words were too incendiary. Among the many changes Lewis made, he replaced the line,
We will march through the South, through the heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did. We shall pursue our own scorched earth policy and burn Jim Crow to the ground,
We will march through the South, through the streets
But we will march with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have shown here today.
Lewis recognized that words can act as both a precursor and a permission structure for action and chose his carefully. Now, as the world digests what we learned about a former presidents actions from the January 6 hearings, we are reminded of just how destructive the results can be when our leaders fail to demonstrate the same wisdom and restraint Lewis did that day. That is why weone of us a former intern for John Lewis, the other a former speechwriter for President Bidenthink its time for the nation to pay a lot more attention to the words that have so often preceded violence in this country. Leaders must recognize the power of their words to sow hope or hate; to defend institutions or diminish them.
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