Thoughts About a New Civil Rights Movement?

An exceprt from an op/ed in the LA Times on the immigration march in Los Angeles:

THE “Day Without Immigrants” protest drew hundreds of thousands of people to downtown Los Angeles on Monday, myself among them. But I was struck as much by what wasn’t there as by what was. Although the marchers showed plenty of indignation, the march itself was virtually anger-free. Though they carried the flag, they carried no animus toward what it represented (in fact, their attitude was quite the opposite). Another absence I noticed was black people, like me. Threading my way through the crowds, I felt both inspired and unnecessary. The lack of anger may have had a lot to do with the presence of so many children. Adults were there not only to confront the establishment but to be role models for their kids. The peaceable tenor was unsurprising. The immigration reform movement may be agitating for change, namely in U.S. immigration law. But it is unlike the civil rights demonstrations of old, or the antiwar demonstrators of today, in that its main success so far has been simply showing the world what’s been true all along. That truth is that illegal immigrants are irrefutably an integral part of the national economy. They stop working for a day and all sorts of quality-of-life services that the middle class of all colors has learned to take for granted come apart — child care, housecleaning, home repair, hotel maid service, gardening, janitorial and construction work, valet parking.

To see the rest, click here.

KJ