Watching the American Experience documentary about MLK and the Civil Rights Movement yesterday, some inchoate idea finally found its voice.

In the tussle between who was more important in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964-with Sen. Obama (and his supporters) emphasizing the role of MLK and Clinton (and her supporters) stressing the role of LBJ, they’re both missing the forest for the grassroots.

Of course, they’re both strong personalities, very skilled politicians and, in a way, self-made, so perhaps they can be excused for their “single-individual-changes-history-and-nothing-is-ever-the-same-again” school of thought.

But watching those Birmingham children cowering in storefronts to escape blasts from firehouses, watching those children snatch their shirts and hands from angry barking dogs, watching those children sing their way to jail, I thought: They deserve the credit. They did it. They made it happen. Does anyone believe that LBJ would’ve pushed so hard for legislation if a majority of Americans weren’t outraged at the Southern abuses? Would MLK have soared to such lofty heights without the faceless thousands who marched on Washington with him?