Editorials
Steinfels, Margaret O'Brien
Higher ground Seldom in politics does a single moment serve to mark historic change. One such moment occurred during the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. All Americans, however intense or...
...This summer, only two-and-a-half decades later, Jackson himself was a pivotal figure for the Democrats, acclaimed, feared, wooed...
...he "stood on others' shoulders.'' But he also stood on his own two feet and spoke with his own voice...
...True to Southern custom, he began with a prayer of thanks for being "in this place at this time...
...He told the simple truths that have made him a voice of conscience for the party-that nuclear "first use" can beget "first retaliation": that most poor people work hard every day, and still can't make it...
...Their prayers are being answered," Jackson said, ". . .hope is eternal...
...He spoke of drugs as self-destructive, of cynicism, fear, and violence as beneath our dignity: ' 'We can do better than that.'' His refrain to the downtrodden-' 'I understand''- carried a credibility that few public figures can match...
...It was a moment to be celebrated, remembered, enlarged...
...Jackson understood, and said, that his achievement was not his alone...
...Social change rarely moves at such a pace...
...When duly elected black delegates were denied entrance to the Democrats' convention hall in 1964, Jesse Jackson was only twenty-two years old...
...that "you can't fight a war on drugs until you're going to challenge the bankers and the gun sellers''-the launderers of dirty money, the merchants of violence...
...More impressively, Jackson appealed to what is best in Americans: common sense and common ground, interdependence, compassion for the poor and weak, religious faith and hope, belief in hard work and opportunity for all...
...not merely a delegate but a credible national candidate...
...Knowing the delegate count, he was free to mention marginalized groups like gays and lesbians and to speak the needs of ignored minorities like the handicapped and the uninsured...
...Bringing Rosa Parks on stage, evoking the memory of Martin Luther King, Jackson ennobled Americans, telling us the stories of our saints and martyrs...
...All Americans, however intense or tepid their interest in party politics, would do well to ponder that moment...
...He spoke of God and Jesus, referred to biblical stories and images, the lion and the lamb...
...Before he spoke, everyone knew Jackson's power to evoke a response...
...He used his power to become not only the most potent symbol but the most eloquent apostle of' 'the politics of inclusion.'' Using symbols as homespun as a patchwork quilt, the man who has never held elective office taught lessons in party politics-fight for your own cause, press your own ideas, and when the ballots are counted, support the winner...
...that the rich who "had the party" during the Reagan years must now pay for the party...
...In ringing rhythms he recalled themes beloved by Baptists, "Higher Ground" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children...
Vol. 115 • August 1988 • No. 14
