If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
Interpretation
To create a just and democratic society, we must ensure that our actions and processes are inclusive and non-discriminatory.
In this quote, Bayard Rustin emphasizes that the foundation of a truly democratic society is rooted in the principles of inclusion and equality. He argues that to achieve a society free from discrimination, every action taken in the construction of that society must reflect those values. Thus, democracy should not only be seen as an ultimate goal but also as a guiding principle throughout the development process, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, are treated fairly and with respect.
In practice
During a speech at a civil rights rally, you could use this quote to highlight the importance of inclusion in social movements.
Twenty-five, 30 years ago, the barometer of human rights in the United States were black people. That is no longer true. The barometer for judging the character of people in regard to human rights is now those who consider themselves gay, homosexual, lesbian.
God does not require us to achieve any of the good tasks that humanity must pursue. What God requires of us is that we not stop trying.
If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
My activism did not spring from being black...The racial injustice that was present in this country during my youth was a challenge to my belief in the oneness of the human family.
I am an opponent of war and of war preparations and an opponent of universal military training and conscription; but entirely apart from that issue, I hold that segregation in any part of the body politic is an act of slavery and an act of war.
The proof that one truly believes is in action.
May I not forget that poverty and riches are of the spirit. Though the world knows me not, may my thoughts and actions be such as will keep me friendly with myself.
Against my better judgment I feel certain that somewhere very near here—the first house down the road, maybe—there's a good poet dying, but also somewhere very near here somebody's having a hilarious pint of pus taken from her lovely young body, and I can't be running back and forth forever between grief and high delight.
The only freedom is the freedom from the known.
God is in all things, but so far as God is Divine and so far as He is rational, God is nowhere so properly as in the soul - in the innermost of the soul
We're all imperfect, and life is simply a perpetual, unending struggle against those imperfections.
Tout est poison, rien n'est poison, tout est une question de dose. Everything is poisonous, nothing is poisonous, it is all a matter of dose.
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