The Courage to Dream

On Rights, Values and Freedom

Vincent Harding, Daisaku Ikeda

• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780857729736
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politik & Internationale Beziehungen
• Subtopic: Bürgerrechte in der Politik

'I have a dream' declared Martin Luther King in 1967. Those words, which echoed round the world, soon became immortal. King gave his life in the cause of eradicating racism, eliminating poverty and resolutely opposing all forms of war and violence. This dialogue brings together two figures who likewise have striven in all their activities to promote peace and fight discrimination: one a Christian theologian, historian and nonviolent activist who knew King personally and who moved in 1958 from Chicago to the American South to participate in the nascent struggle for civil rights; the other a foremost Buddhist leader who has been inspired in his own thinking by King's example. Vincent Harding and Daisaku Ikeda here bring the wisdom of their respective traditions and experiences to reflect on the personal cost of fighting for justice, and the courage that that entails. Their conversations range widely, across issues which include war and violence, the continuing blight in America of institutionalized racism, the need to overcome global disparities of wealth and the consequent dangers of materialism and consumerism

CONVERSATION ONE

A More Perfect Union

IKEDA: I am honoured to participate in this dialogue¹ with such a great champion of human rights, compassionate educator and pre-eminent American scholar of social history. I look forward to exploring with you the focal issues of the twenty-first century – the issues of human rights, peace and education.

You were a trusted friend, colleague and ally of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, both of you taking part in the civil rights movement. In our dialogue, I hope that you will share your anecdotes and memories of Dr King as you discuss at length, for the sake of young people, the philosophy of faith and action that was forged and tempered in your struggles for human rights. I also want to contemplate and explore together what we must do – what path humanity must take – to create a peaceful global society.

HARDING: This dialogue gives me the chance to reminisce about Dr King’s life as well as engage in some autobiographical reflection. Words cannot express my appreciation for this opportunity. My daughter and friends all strongly encouraged me to participate in this dialogue.

IKEDA: Let’s have a free, wide-ranging discussion. Dr King once said, ‘An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concern to the broader concerns of all humanity.’² What makes a human being extraordinary? It is not merely social standing or fame. Those who fight for human rights and strive for the happiness of the downtrodden, even to the point of sacrificing themselves – these are the exceptional people.

This is why I respect the courageous citizens and many champions of humanity, including you and Dr King, who have fought long and hard for human rights and freedoms, risking their lives.

The struggle against the social evils of inequality, discrimination, poverty and violence is never-ending. Dr King sacrificed his life in this cause. His powerful example continues to inspire much courage and hope in those dedicated to justice and the cause of humanity.

I hope the youth – the next generation’s leaders – will be inspired by the faith, wisdom and action of these immortal heroes and learn the lessons of this history. And I hope that these lessons will be engraved upon their young hearts. In this context, I believe our dialogue will be profoundly significant.

HARDING: Thank you, my brother. I have been looking forward to this because I feel that this discussion with you will be a wonderful opportunity to stimulate my own thinking and re-examine issues on a much deeper level.

Human existence includes the experiences of life and death. When I consider the life and death of individual human beings, I also am compelled to think of the life and death of societies. Today, more than forty years since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, I have a powerful premonition that we are at the beginning of a major transformation in American society.

IKEDA: Yes, and a symbol of this major transformation in American society is the appearance of President Barack Obama. In February 2008, when Mr Obama was considered the most likely presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, you stated in an interview with a Japanese newspaper, The Mainichi Shimbun:

To his supporters, Mr Obama is the creator of a new America . . . I am sure that [Dr King] would have been very happy about Obama’s surge in popularity. I think that he would have seen Obama’s breakthrough as the magnificent next step on the journey toward the society about which he could only dream.³

Then, in January 2009, President Obama was sworn into office and thus took on the considerable hopes and aspirations of the American people. How do you view this tidal wave of change that is spreading across America?

HARDING: When I ponder the origins of what is currently happening in America – the Obama phenomenon – I am compelled to trace its beginnings to Martin Luther King and to the hundreds of thousands of magnificently ordinary women and men who were his co-workers. They led the post-World War II movement to expand democracy in America, known as the civil rights movement.

Mr Obama appeared on the scene long after the height of the civil rights movement, representing a new opportunity for young people to participate more in the ongoing struggle for the expansion of democracy, following in the steps of King and his comrades. This is the scenario in America today.

I’m happy that Mr Obama has focused on the goal of ‘continu[ing] on the path of a more perfect Union’.⁴ With these words, Obama has breathed the spirit embodied in the Preamble to the US Constitution⁵ into the hearts of people who too often have completely forgotten it. He has thus rekindled their passion for justice and a transformed nation.

IKEDA: The Preamble extols the nation’s founding ideals with the words ‘We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union . . .’ In March 2008, President Obama, then a candidate, delivered a historic speech titled ‘A More Perfect Union’, in which he asserted that his mission was to ‘continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America’.⁶ He called out to his fellow Americans to join him in creating a more perfect America – an America without the scourge of racial prejudice.

Describing himself as the ‘son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas . . . [who has] brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents’,⁷ Mr Obama advocated for racial harmony and reconciliation in his presidential acceptance speech. This moved many people.

HARDING: Today in America, many people have forgotten or are completely unaware that the primary purpose of our nation is not to build more efficient cars or refrigerators or more smart bombs. Rather, our fundamental task must be to ‘form a more perfect Union’.

I am delighted that, by raising this issue, Barack Obama has opened up the opportunity for younger generations to discover something meaningful to which they can commit their lives. This is indeed the most important development to emerge in the United States since the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Mr Obama understands that he is an heir to the legacy of King and the movement. He has reminded people that the civil rights movement did not end with King’s assassination, nor did it end with the legal recognition of the rights of black people. He has also reminded people that forming a ‘more perfect Union’ is an ongoing endeavour to which we all must commit ourselves for our entire lives and for the life of this nation.

Large numbers of Americans thus became wildly enthusiastic about Mr Obama’s candidacy, his message inspiring the possibility of a new movement emerging in this country – a movement to recreate the country.

IKEDA: And the march to create a ‘more perfect Union’ called for by President Obama does not simply stop on the shores of the United States. The struggle for social justice – the struggle to win true freedom and equality – is a major challenge and goal for all humanity. As long as people are discriminated against, oppressed, and treated contemptuously anywhere in the world, we cannot rest; we must continue to seek a more perfect solidarity for all humankind. As Dr King astutely observed, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’⁸

The essence of the Buddhist teachings lies in the unceasing struggle against threats to justice and in the quest to realize a peaceful world and the happiness and welfare of humanity. We must struggle decisively against the diabolical forces that cause human misery and threaten the dignity of life – this is the fundamental ideal on which the peace and human rights movement of the Soka Gakkai International is based. This is an eternal, never-ending struggle.

MORE THAN COMMANDER IN CHIEF

HARDING: Wherever possible, we need to keep reminding President Obama that, even though he broke through the racial barrier to become president, racial discrimination is still alive. And we must, each of us, uproot traces of prejudice from our own hearts and actions.

We must also keep reminding our president that materialism is still one of the greatest poisons of American life. Dr King and his companions in the struggle worked tirelessly to liberate us from the darkness of the three evils of racism, materialism and militarism.

We must continually remind Mr Obama to turn toward his best self. When he is at his best, he can then embody the message of Dr King and the movement to expand democracy.

For someone such as Mr Obama, who has achieved the highest office in the nation, it may be difficult to continue progressing toward his highest self. However, I know that much of his best self was cultivated when he worked as a community organizer supporting grassroots democracy and standing with ordinary people to support them and help improve their situations.

I know that his mother insisted that his childhood education include the history of black-led movements to transform America. I am convinced that one of our major tasks as American citizens is to remind ourselves and our president of the sources of his best self.

IKEDA: The key concept of this new era will be ‘grassroots democracy’. The citizenry and community are the starting points.

After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, President Obama moved to Chicago, where, as you said, he worked as a community organizer, sharing in the travails of the people and doing his utmost to improve their lives. The kind of leader people seek today continually strives to develop his or her highest self.

Essentially, the government, the nation and leaders all exist to serve the people. Many people have great expectations for this president, based on his experiences and history of standing up for ordinary people.

Have you ever given President Obama any advice?

HARDING: During the 2008 presidential campaign, I sent Mr Obama a message through a mutual friend:

If you win the election and become president, don’t spend much time trying to prove to the country how qualified you are to be commander in chief. Instead, remind us and yourself how qualified you are to be community organizer in chief. We need that much more.

My message was half playful but also serious. I repeated the essence of my message in an open letter to my president.⁹

IKEDA: The US Constitution confers on the president the power and authority to be commander in chief of the Army, Navy and National Guard, but I am sure that most people would rather President Obama’s image not be that of the top military commander in charge of conducting wars.

HARDING: That’s right. My feeling was that this is not the image a democratic nation needs to have of its leader – it’s the image of a dictator. I had thus hoped he would focus on playing the role of community organizer in chief.

The role of the community activist is to help us underst...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Author bio
• Endorsements
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Frontispiece
• Dedication
• Preface by Daisaku Ikeda
• Preface by Vincent Harding
• 1 A More Perfect Union
• 2 A Brilliant Test of Human Nature
• 3 The Coming of the New America
• 4 Extraordinary Character
• 5 On Encouragement
• 6 Influential Encounters
• 7 The Expansion of Democracy
• 8 When Youth Took the Lead
• 9 The Pivotal Struggle in Birmingham
• 10 The March on Washington
• 11 Beyond Vietnam
• 12 A Revolution of Values
• 13 Non-violent Acts of Courage
• 14 Carrying the Legacy Forward
• 15 Start With a Dream
• 16 Becoming World Citizens
• Appendix 1. Selected Works – Daisaku Ikeda
• Appendix 2. Selected Works – Vincent Harding
• Notes