A New Take on an Old Quote
On the occasion of Martin Luther King Day 2011, we pause to reflect on the meaning of holidays, the importance of having a day to honor African Americans and a new insight into one of Dr. King’s oft quoted phrases. Holidays too often become just a day off from work or school, their significance lost and their purpose forgotten. At one time holidays were an important aspect of our culture and served as a living history lesson for all. We lament the fact that the holidays commemorating two of the greatest leaders of our country, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, are now lost in one generic President’s Day. It is sad to see the loss of the respect that was once accorded these leaders when their special days on February 12 and 22 provided important teaching opportunities in the classroom. Now it would be difficult to find a school in our country that has a picture of either Washington or Lincoln, once fixtures of every classroom, having been replaced by posters of Che Guevara, Harvey Milk and Malcolm X.
Honoring African Americans
That said, we feel that it is altogether appropriate to set aside a day to honor and commemorate the invaluable contributions that African Americans have made to our country since its inception. In their long journey from slavery to the 21st Century, they have been an essential thread in the fabric of our country. It is difficult to imagine a United States of America without the likes of George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, the Buffalo Soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen, Rosa Parks, Ralph Bunche, Jackie Robinson, Condoleezza Rice, Thomas Sowell, Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong. Indeed, they and so many others have played a crucial role in What Makes US Great!
“I Have a Dream”
In 1963 when Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the crowds from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. he could not have known how often the words from his “I Have a Dream” speech would be repeated in the coming years. Hidden in that speech was the sentence, “This is no time…to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism”, which in the context of his address to the crowds that day meant that we could not afford to be seduced into piecemeal reform in the civil rights movement. But I believe he gave us a warning with the prescient words in that phrase, as well as a vision of what would happen to the culture of our country in the next half century.
Chipping Away
Looking back we can see how the gradual chipping away at the standards of our great country has significantly changed who we are. We see it in the step by step, gradual transformation of the moral standards in our country since that time. We have been tranquilized into acceptance, dare I say tolerance, by the small, gradual steps which over time have added up to a sea change. In the 1960s having a child out of wedlock was strictly frowned upon. But gradually we got used to that and then it was ok for men and women to live together before marriage. As time went on, providing birth control pills to 13 year old girls was ok, then teaching kindergarteners that homosexuality is good was ok, until we have arrived at what would have been unthinkable back at the time when our country had moral standards…two homosexual men can…well, you get the idea. We have also seen how the tranquilizing drug of gradualism has chipped away at the Christian foundations of our nation, at the long held belief in hard work and self-sufficiency and at the concept of American exceptionalism, to name just a few ways it has changed who we are.
Never Too Late
It may almost seem like it’s too late, but I say we should heed that warning of long ago and be all the more vigilant in monitoring the damaging effects that the tranquilizing drug of gradualism can have on our culture. Conservatives are often rebuked by those under its influence for opposing small, incremental changes that may seem insignificant at the time. But we know how one small change leads to another and then another until a citizenry lulled into complacency suddenly wakes up to a nightmare. There are some encouraging signs that we are kicking the habit of this dangerous drug and reclaiming the principles that have made our country great. We are especially pleased to see the rising number of conservative African Americans who will be a crucial part of this movement back to our roots.
I always considered Dr. King’s phrase to mean something quite different from the “boiled frog” scenario you describe. You describe his words as a recipe for a stealthy conspiratorial tactic in political action foisted upon an unsuspecting citizenry, yet Dr. King used them as a warning against complaceny and feeble efforts among the very people striving to create necessary change.
Since I first heard those words they always connoted the dangers of a lack of sufficient boldness and strength of heart to strive for meaningful change, the risk of trying for too little and accepting inadequate results. The ultimate effect he warned of would be that the pitiful inertia of too little done too slowly could be quietly strangled out of sight in committee meeting rooms.
You are so right! As noted in our article, Dr. King’s meaning in the context of his speech was that we could not afford to be seduced into piecemeal reform in the civil rights movement, as you astutely pointed out. I took the liberty of suggesting a different way in which his famous phrase might be used. I really appreciate your thoughtful and well articulated comment and hope that you will visit us again at What Makes US Great to keep the conversation going.