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John Lewis, a civil rights leader and U.S. representative from Georgia, was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was a leader on the march across the Edmund Pettis bridge before having his skull cracked by an Alabama State Trooper on March 7, 1965 (Bloody Sunday) in Selma, AL. Prior to that he was a leader in the March on Washington in 1963 before going on to serve the people of the 5th district of Georgia in Congress for the past 33 years. In recent years, some of the issues he's fought for include gun control legislation, expanding health care coverage, and strengthening the Voting Rights Act.
Discussion Questions
1. How can we continue the fight for racial equality in the 2020's that John Lewis spent much of his career promoting?
2. Given that this is a key presidential election year, what can be done to protect people's right to vote?
3. John Lewis said "if you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it." How does that apply to our city/state/nation/world?
I think that we have definitely progressed quite a lot in the past decade with regards to racial equality, although there is still much we can do to improve the situation for certain racial groups. I think that racial equality everywhere is not something that can be achieved because it is virtually impossible, but it is possible to minimize racial inequality as much as we can. With regards to John Lewis' quote, I think that it applies most of the time in our daily lives, meaning that you should not be a bystander. However, in the context of the entire world, sometimes it may be better not to interfere with another country's affairs as they might not want outside intervention or help at all for it can lead to more severe consequences.
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