Quote from: Lucca on September 17, 2018, 12:18:28 PM
We all know about people like Martin Luther King Jr. or Susan B. Anthony, but I can't think of a similar figure for trans people, gay people, Arabs, or Muslims, either currently or in the past. I'm sure they exist, but they certainly aren't household names.
Those modern-day leaders and activists ARE out there. It's just that we have a hard time recognizing them. Leaders like Anthony and King are now revered figures in history - but ONLY IN RETROSPECT. During their careers they were hated and vilified as troublemakers.
Susan B. Anthony was defamed as an enemy of morality and the family. She was mocked and criticized relentlessly by politicians and the press. She was arrested and prosecuted in 1872 for daring to vote in an election. She was convicted at trial by an all-male jury - women weren't allowed to serve on juries, just like they weren't allowed to vote.
Martin Luther King was denounced from coast to coast as a racial agitator. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover considered him a Communist and directed a campaign of surveillance and harassment against him. King was arrested and jailed numerous times and, of course, was ultimately assassinated.
Only in retrospect were Americans able to recognize Anthony and King as heroes who made the country a better and more just place.
So if we're looking for modern leaders and activists who will be recognized as the Susan B. Anthonys and Martin Luther Kings of the future . . . we can expect to find them among those who are currently numbered among the agitators and troublemakers.