Still learning from the American civil rights movement

By Rami G. Khouri

the Jordan Times(used w/permission)

THE HIGH water mark of the American civil rights movement occurred 40 years ago when a quarter of a million people gathered in Washington and heard Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his powerful "I have a dream" speech. We, in the Arab world, can learn much from the American civil rights movement's compelling example of how subjugated, marginalised, weak and abused people can aspire to a more normal and just life through their own political action.

I am struck today by the close parallels between African-American anxieties in the early 1960s and the grievances that ordinary people around the Arab world express, which fall into three broad categories: popular sentiments, legal structures and power flows. The most important parallel, popular sentiments, reflects an agitated, distressed citizenry that has much to complain about and demands change. African-Americans then, and many Arabs today, would feel helpless before the ruling powers of their society. The great work of African-American literature, Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," portrayed a black man in Harlem who felt he was invisible to the surrounding white society. Invisible people feel degraded because their rights are not provided for, their concerns are not taken into account, their basic needs are often not met and their voice is neither heard nor does it have any impact if it is heard.

Many Arabs feel like invisible people in their own societies; they complain about abuse of power by the elite, about not being able to have an impact on decisions that affect their lives, about always being vulnerable to policies made by others (including other countries) and about not having equal opportunities to achieve their full human potential because they don't have the right connections and will always be denied opportunities open to others.

Even more striking are some of the parallel complaints about the legal and security systems. African-Americans decades ago, and many ordinary Arabs today, would complain about being subjected to routine abuses by the police and legal systems; e.g., the laws and constitutions are merely ink on paper and do not apply to them, they cannot expect to get a fair hearing in court, they are often abused physically and politically by the security and police services, and they are subjected to legal abuses that are not suffered by the rich and powerful in their society.

The third common parallel is how African-Americans then and ordinary Arabs today would see their societies as deeply split into two very different worlds: those in the lowest stratum get on with their hard daily lives as best they can, while society's elite enjoys endless wealth, privileges and exemptions from the rule of law and the sufferings of the poor. Note, for example, what people say in Amman about which parts of town get more municipal water, what people say in Beirut and Damascus about which parts of town get more electricity, what people say in Rabat and Cairo about which parts of town get more green spaces, street cleaning services and nice sidewalks.

The enjoyment of socio-economic privileges reflects the exercise of political power, and the abuse and denial of political power are precisely the evils that the civil rights movement confronted in the US decades ago. That movement, and the wider American political system, challenged and ultimately overcame many legitimate grievances through three main modes of action that we, Arabs, should study well.

The first step was publicly articulating the problem of racism and discrimination as an urgent issue that must be resolved. This was done mainly through peaceful street protests and political organisation, at both community and national levels, that forced the entire country to respond.

The second step was explicit political and legal reform, including overt challenges to established racist laws at state, city and national levels. Major changes happened nationally when Congress passed landmark legislation to promote equality in voting, education and other aspects of life, and the courts upheld and expanded the impact of laws and the US constitution.

The third step was major economic reform that opened the way for African-Americans to have a better chance at joining the middle class and entering the ranks of the wealthy and powerful. These changes were linked to empowerment in education and training, resulting in an African-American economic middle class today that is much more significant than that which existed decades ago.

The American civil rights movement remains a living beacon for other invisible people around the world who search for strategies to become visible, whole and normal, to challenge abusive political structures and to live in decency and dignity. Indeed, the dream, like the rights, are universal.

Wednesday, September 3, 2003