Couldn't be said better. This is exactly what irked me so much about Hillary's MLK tweet where she supposedly bashed the "white moderate" for holding back progress.
The MLK quote, from the Letter From a Birmingham Jail, she is referring to is: "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's greatest stumbling block in his strike toward freedom is not the White Citizens' Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to order than justice".
Hillary is the white moderate, both literally and metaphorically. The white moderate, who can be found in both political parties, is someone more concerned with the aesthetic of progress as opposed to progress in itself. They may be pro equality and anti bigotry in principle, but will only work toward justice insofar as their class interest or general comfortability of life is no way threatened. Which therefore leads to a scenario in which justice can never really be attained, since those who have the most power (the white moderate) do not want to make concessions. In her 2016 presidential bid (and likely in 2024, if she chooses to run as some headlines are speculating), she spent a bulk of her time reiterating what we, as a nation, cannot do, what is too ambitious or too costly, in the Democratic primary. Policies which would only further justice in a broad sense, such as ensuring healthcare for all Americans, limiting big business' influence in our elections and political system, bold climate action like a Green New Deal, abolishing private prisons, legalizing and descheduling marijuana, would be talked down by her, as opposed to being idealistic, and motivating Americans to envision a better world than they already have. She harped on about the same tired old platitudes, such as "unity" or "inclusion" or "reaching across the aisle" or "people over party" or "restoring the soul of our nation", yet would not examine critically what these statements actually mean nor work to achieve this in a meaningful way. She, an would only work to enact change within the framework of the status quo, as opposed to making changes to it so that it functions more equitably and sustainably.
Aside from Hillary Clinton, the "white moderate" trope can be well encapsulated by the "not in my backyard" sentiment that plagues suburban communities across the country. Take Palo Alto, California, for example. A majority white, well-educated, well-off, and liberal leaning city in the Bay Area. Given it's proximity to San Francisco, many Palo Alto residents were outraged by the lack of affordable housing in the region as well as the high homelessness rate, and some even marched in protest to demand affordable housing in the region. Though, when push came to shove, things changed. Last year, the Palo Alto city council brought up proposals to change the zoning of an undeveloped, two acre plot of land from low-density to high-density, to build 60 low-income housing units, for a vote. The proposals were unsurprisingly voted down. Many residents feared a decline in their property values, increased crime rates, and generally did not want lower income people in their sight. Of course, a low income housing bloc in one of America's most racially diverse metro areas would inevitably bring in a higher proportion of nonwhite residents, which could covertly invoke fear amongst Palo Alto's white residents. This is exemplary of the white moderate being open to progress and what they perceive to be "justice" on the surface level, but when they are directly confronted by it, they become fearful uneasy, thus eventually reactionary.
