The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was the beginning of the hope that we could banish out a hatred so deep in America. It seemed as if it was within our reach to change this society. But it didn't fully happen. And now, when we are about to enter the 21st century, it seems like the conditions for many Southern workers are heading back toward the 19th century. There is still a shadow of slave labor, a shadow of sharecropping, a shadow of prison labor over all of us.
Many people say that the answer is the power of capitalism, the power of the state.
I live in Mississippi. I know the power of corporations and the power of the state. But that isn't the only reason the movements of the 1960s didn't go through to total freedom. I believe that part of the reason is that the Idea of Freedom needs to go deeper than where the movement has taken it up to now. Sometimes in a great struggle, like a strike, we can take big steps climbing up the ladder to understanding the Idea of Freedom and being able to tell others about it.