American Rebels

During much of the 1960s I kept an antiwar poster on my wall with a quotation from Albert Camus that read, "I would like to be able to love my country, and justice too." The following essays, which will appear in book form later this year, attempt to locate and define a coherent American tradition consistent with Camus's words--reconciling authentic patriotism with original artistic creation, unpopular opinion and moral principles that don't change with the winds.

The subjects of the essays include rebels in politics, education, journalism, religion, literature, film, sports, music, law, popular culture and social struggle. They are rebels against conformity, commercialism, racism, oligarchy, conventional wisdom, stacked decks and sacred cows. They can be described as visionaries, revolutionaries, radicals, liberals, nonconformists, outsiders, insurgents, prophets, pathfinders. They don't fit under any one ideology or party. Most are too much the free spirit to be categorized. They are part of a continuum of conviction and creation in our tangled national history. But they are all distinctively American.

Some, like Walt Whitman, are famous. Others, like Benjamin Mays, are comparatively obscure--almost cult figures--revered by a small, intense following. Still others, like Margaret Sanger, have faded from memory and deserve a new shaft of sunlight. Most of them did not lead perfect lives--few humans do. They all did heroic things, even if they didn't always lead heroic lives. Some had lousy second or third acts in their lives. A few, however, are close to sainthood, including Dorothy Day and Bob Moses.

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