{1} "Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research."
--Malcolm X; Message to the Grass Roots; 1963.
I want to take a few minutes today to have a discussion about a topic that has been causing some divisions on DU in the past 48 hours. In fact, the topic – which involves issues of racism and sexism – has played a role in the democratic primaries, and continues to play a role in the general election. I hope that DUers will read this with an open mind, and I look forward to responses. I am confident that as a progressive/liberal community, we can make progress today in dealing with this issue.
My favorite historian is the late Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. I keep in mind that he said that those who rely only upon "history" are as likely to repeat the errors of the past, as those who completely ignore it. Yet Schlesinger held Richard Nixon in utter contempt, and was able to anticipate almost every action that Nixon took, by his understanding of Nixon’s personal history.
John McCain has been channeling the spirit of Richard Nixon in a manner many of the older members of DU recognize. Our feelings towards McCain are similar indeed to Mr. Schlesinger’s opinion of Nixon. And for that reason, I think that we should take the time to examine the election of 1972.
There are three books that provide us with fascinating information on that historic (and tragic) election that I think are important. One is an older book, and two are new. The first is "The Senate Watergate Report," by the Ervin Committee. The other two are "The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate," by James Rosen, and "Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America," by Rick Perlstein.
In these important sources of information, we find that the goal of the Nixonites was to divide the democratic party, along three distinct fault-lines: race; sex; and the divide between the progressive/liberal and the moderate/conservative wings of our party. Again, older DUers will remember this well.
In the last two sentences of Perlstein’s amazing book, he writes, "How did Nixonland end? It has not ended yet." (page 748) Thus, we witness attempts by the McCainites to plant seeds of racism, sexism, and division between the wings of our party today. They believe that their only chance to win in November is to hope these seeds take root in fertile ground, and grow to divide us.
We have the ability to use these same issues to unite us, and make our party stronger. That may be difficult, but we will find the results of not doing so to be far more damaging to our individual and national future. For racism and sexism are surely diseases, just as Richard Nixon and John McCain are tumors on democracy.
{2} "My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution."
--Barbara Jordan; House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment of Richard Nixon; 1974.
When he delivered the eulogy for Barbara Jordan in 1996, Bill Moyers noted the irony of her love of the Constitution, which had in its original form denied her her rights, both as a woman and a black person. Yet she never allowed bitterness to contaminate her being. Moyers noted that our nation would have benefited from having Barbara Jordan’s influence had she been among the "Founding Fathers" when they wrote the Constitution. We certainly benefited from her influence two hundred years later.
Of course, there are people who are bitter about the ugly and damaging effects of racism and sexism in our culture today. This is understandable. I would suggest that history provides us with a good example of how we can deal with this. In 1963, Attorney General Robert Kennedy met with a group of black leaders in New York City. During that infamous meeting, RFK felt personally attacked by the black leaders. But after a day had passed, he recognized that it was essential that he listened to their anger and frustration, rather than react like a man on the hot seat.
Even during his 1968 campaign in the democratic primary, some of RFK’s supporters questioned why he continued to subject himself to more of these same types of meetings. Kennedy knew that he benefited from listening patiently to people vent. And, in fact, those black representatives who voiced the most anger and frustration came to be Kennedy’s strongest, most active supporters. They knew that Kennedy intended to include them in the Constitutional democracy if he was elected.
The US Constitution was not the result of our Founding Fathers being in agreement on all issues. It was part of a growth process, which evolved from Franklin’s Articles of Confederation. History documents that Franklin based his Articles of Confederation upon the influence of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) model. All of these were vehicles for human beings to put their differences behind them, and to unite in order to advance their common interests.
Today, we do not have the luxury of bitterness and division if we are to advance our common interests. The republican party is hoping to cause fractures along the lines of those issues that have divided us in the past. They hope to exploit racism, sexism, and to inject other viruses that cause a cultural/political divide.
As I have noted before, they want to divide us into individual fingers, that they can easily break. We need to unite our fingers, and form that powerful fist which is capable of protecting all of our rights.
I am hoping that, as a progressive/liberal community, we keep in mind the important historic lessons that were taught by leaders such as Barbara Jordan and Robert F. Kennedy. Thank you for your consideration.
Your friend,
H2O Man
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