“We have heard a lot of talk about backward people on other continents. But when we think of that burned car, and when we think back on Medgar Evers, Emmett Till and other victims of our own American violence here at home, we must ask ourselves: who is really backward?”
Our Quote of the Week forces us to pause for a moment of self reflection as we mourn the killings of two civilians at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the past week, bringing the total number of individuals who have died in ICE custody between January 20, 2025 and the time of writing to over 50.
We take this week’s quote from Sargent Shriver’s 1964 Address to the NAACP. In an appearance he made while he was leading both the Peace Corps and the War on Poverty, Shriver made the case that the work of overcoming society’s challenges is difficult and requires everyone to be involved. In the speech, he focuses on the problems of the poor and Black Americans—unemployment, lack of education, lack of health care—and reflects that these problems have persisted for generations because of systemic injustice, racial discrimination, and policies that make it virtually impossible for the economically disadvantaged to get ahead. He then observes that his Peace Corps volunteers were tackling some of these same problems abroad—and emphasizes that we cannot in any way hold ourselves as superior to people in other countries when we are responsible for so much violence at home.
Sargent Shriver was positive and optimistic by nature and he had deep respect for the people, leaders, and institutions of the United States. However, the roles he held throughout his career forced him to take a close look at the root causes of the biggest challenges we face as a species, including conflict, injustice, and economic instability. The words we’re sharing this week reveal his deep belief that if we are to build a more peaceful world for all of us, we must take a critical look at our own actions and strive to be more rational, more just, and more compassionate towards each other. And these qualities must be reflected not only in our day-to-day actions, but in our public policy.
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