I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice who constantly says 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action' who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for someone else's freedom who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.'
|
A councilor ought not to sleep the whole night through, a man to whom the populace is entrusted, and who has many responsibilities.
|
'And yet,' demanded Councilor Barlow, 'what's he done Has he ever done a day's work in his life What great cause is he identified with' 'He's identified,' said the first speaker, 'with the great cause of cheering us all up.'
|