Return of the White Moderates

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and welcome to the sixth edition of Waco Can’t Wait, a progressive newsletter focusing on McLennan County, Texas, and Federal politics. I hope you are all having a restful and contemplative MLK Day. I invite you to reflect and embrace Dr. Kings message of liberation, social & economic justice, and racial equality. You will see many politicians invoke his legacy, while actively fighting against what he stood for. I encourage you to read his speeches, essays, and other writings that weave together a bold, virtuous vision of a better world.

On this long weekend, I had the privilege to revisit King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” While incarcerated in Birmingham for his participation in a non-violent demonstration, King decided to respond to the warnings of white religious leaders in the South. They believed that the efforts of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were “unwise and untimely.” These leaders, that King describes as “white moderates,” voiced their support for his ultimate mission, but take issue with his methods. They saw the status quo as preferable to direct-action. Sound familiar?

We face a similar conflict in our own time. In 2021, 19 states passed restrictive voting laws, and some legislatures will likely consider more bills in the new year. Democrats have proposed a package of democracy reform bills that are incredibly popular, including the Freedom to Vote Act that has 70% support among likely voters, and 54% support among Republicans. Each provision of the bill is broadly popular, the lowest being universal vote by mail with 60%.

Despite the broad popularity of these policies, Congressional Democrats continue to face resistance from Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. They both continue to invoke the legacy of the filibuster, touting its protections against the tyranny of majority, invoking James Madison’s praise for the senate, and insisting that weakening this rule could create more problems than it solves. I believe that these two senators are indistinguishable from the white moderates of 1963, and that their actions will only serve to endanger the very democracy they are seeking to protect. But before we dive into such a comparison, let’s take a look at the news!

Week in review (a collection of news from Waco, Texas, and beyond)

Waco:

A housing study conducted by M&L Associates concluded that Waco’s housing shortage is disproportionately hitting our low-income earners. Between 2010 and 2019, Waco