Exercising Practice

Abstract

Did KWT observe all the cautionary imperatives he outlined and delineated in his discussion of theory and theorizing in his own practical career? As stated before, he did not hold any elected political office; the closest he came to public office was to serve as a member of the Scarsdale Board of Education for three years (1962–65) and subsequently as its president for three years (1965–68). If these six years are any indicator, he faithfully followed the general principles I outlined in the previous chapter. As I suggested, he felt words alone would not be sufficient and he genuinely believed that even a modest practical step could lead to a greater revolution. His tenure as a public officer coincided with a volatile political climate. The United States was experiencing tremendous national and international challenges. Internally, civil unrest pushed the country to the point of breaking social order, and internationally, the Cold War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War had divided the country into seemingly irreconcilable ideological camps. At a broader level, liberation movements and decolonization dominated politics across the world. As a man striving for human dignity, KWT felt the civil rights movement as well as the liberation movement constituted revolutions best described as “the burning issues of our time” (cited in O’Connor 1983 : 200).

It is defeatist to think and act as if improvements lay beyond human imagination and will.

—KWT (B1979a: 120)