“Even if you are the winner in a rat race, you’re still a rat.”

– Andrew Young, ca. 1967

Another quote from the historical account of MLK, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Toward the end of King’s life, he and the SCLC became committed to pressing for reform of the entire U.S. economic structure that creates and sustains wide gulfs between rich and poor. The comment about not being the winner of a rat race was made in the context of suggesting that the SCLC not simply work for black people to assimilate into an economic system that leaves so many without economic power or opportunity.