Remembering Dr King is not enough

Today is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom when Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I have a dream” speech. 

It is one of the finest pieces of rhetoric in modern times. Not surprising since Dr King was a preacher who understood the power of words. He moved the 250,000 people who stood before him in front of the Lincoln Memorial and countless others across the US and the rest of the world. I know my parents and their contemporaries struggling for freedom in South Africa felt he was speaking to them when he envisaged a future in which his “ four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. 

It was a powerful speech and one that we should all read again today.  We can reflect that much has changed since that August day half a century ago. We have seen African American men and women achieve amazing things. They have become mayors and Supreme Court judges, generals and admirals, Congress men and women and Secretaries of State. We have seen the election not once but twice of Barack Obama as President of the United States. 

But before we get all dewy-eyed about it, let us also remember that there is still so much more to do.  Let us remember that the racial disparities within the US remain stark. The life chances of both Hispanic and African-Americans are worse than that of their white counterparts. This is perhaps seen most vividly when it comes to the criminal justice system.  For example although Hispanic and African-American make up under 30 per cent of the US population, they make up around 60 per cent of the US prison population. A staggering 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men. And if you are an African American man who didn’t finish high school you have a one in three chance of being incarcerated.  

One consequence of these dramatic ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system is that state laws which remove the right to vote from people with felony convictions (5.3 million Americans denied the vote so far and counting) has a greater impact on Hispanic and African-American men. As a result 13 per cent of all African American men have been disenfranchised, in 11 states this amounts to more than 10 per cent of their African American population.

I don’t think Dr King would have been proud today. I think he would be standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial demanding that we do more.

Toby was right

I have been thinking about Toby Ziegler. This is not that unusual. He is a hero of mine. I still don’t know whether when I grow up I want to be Toby or CJ. I am sure I want to marry Josh. Anyway, there is a great episode of West Wing (what am I talking about they are all great episodes) in which Toby is asked to help representatives of the newly emerging democracy of Belarus write its constitution. The Belarusians just want to do a bit of search and replace on the US constitution but Toby, increasingly testily, urges them to start with a blank page. As he explains, the US constitution is not a good start for a modern country. The separation of powers as set out by the Founding Fathers might have been rationale in the post-revolutionary 18th century America but, he declares, makes absolutely no sense today.  The good folk of Belarus think ill of Toby, questioning his patriotism. 

But Toby was right. I can't for the life of me fathom the US constitution.  I mean how is it possible for the most powerful political leader in the world, a man who can invade any country on the planet at the drop of a hat, not be able to get his domestic policy through? Just think about the ridiculous amount of time it took to pass his health reform. And even then it was a watered-down version.  

And of course there is the fiscal cliff. 

Ok, enough Republicans in Congress co-operated sufficiently with the President and the Democrats for the immediate danger of falling over the cliff to recede and the markets have bounced back. But they took it to the brink and given threatened spending cuts have only been postponed for two months, we will be back here before too long. Now I know the Founding Fathers wanted to spare their new-born country the threat of the autocratic rule from the likes of the House of Hanover of which they had just rid themselves, so deliberately instituted checks and balances to stop the President getting too big for his boots. But times have changed. If POTUS were suddenly to get all George III on the citizens of the 21st century USA or indeed the rest of the world there are other levers that can be pulled. I am not sure that preventing him implementing policy on which he was elected is reasonable or dare I say democratic. Yes, other countries have similar power-sharing systems but it seems to me that in the USA, Congress men and women have no incentive or desire to sort things out for the greater good. Too often it would seem they have a vested interest in blocking change in order that they and their constituents whether they are the voters of their state or the interests they represent benefit from the inevitable horse-trading – “Yes, I’ll vote for your finance bill but only if you give me a new highway/factor/tax cut”.  I am not sure why it should be, perhaps it is a consequence of federalism or the lack of a whipped party system such as we have here but whatever the cause, it is naked self-interest, unedifying and I cannot believe is what John Adams, Thomas Jefferson or George Washington intended. 

Would my tune be different were I not to be a supporter of Obama? I would hope not.