If the government sanctioned it, would that make it right?

Think of this question while watching this video of a soldier giving his testimony regarding the incessant racism in the military. It's funny how we are told to look to elders and those in authority for direction, but due to the framing (e.g. "They are serving us" rather than "They are killing innocent people") and pressure to be a "patriot" we are less likely to question any of their actions.

The wealthy have capitalized on subconscious "racism" or notions of "superiority" to the darker peoples who we are asked to celebrate being killed. I remember one class in which Eben asked us to think about what people in another, less developed country would think about the U.S. if their country was bombed and innocent people were killed.

John Brown was not right or just because of violence, he was right because he was willing to do anything to right a wrong. He defended the subjugated people in the nation, and violence was a byproduct of that process. Similar to the self-defense that Malcolm X spoke of, he was willing to tell America that it was wrong and to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Just because America says something is right, should we blindly accept its view?

If you answer yes to that question, you are not really living. However, that is what America's "leaders" have deceptively convinced countless people to do.

America followed John Brown's lead in beginning the Civil War. Without John Brown's leadership, America might have practiced "overt" slavery in the 20th century. There is definitely still slavery in America, but is so subtle that it's hard for many to see.

When you are afraid to speak out against injustice, it will run rampant.

So who is really unjust?

-- WilliamDavidWilliams - 04 Mar 2012

I wrote this in college for a satirical, angry magazine... speaks to this subject.

Legality vs. Morality

In this world, there's deep thinkers, thinkers, non-thinkers, irrational beasts- and then there's sheeple. And then Lifetime viewers.

This post is just to clarify something that I desperately hope you already understand.

When something is legal, that does not make it morally right. And if something is morally good, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be legal.

I've run into people throughout my life that think that something is right because it's legal in this country. Sometimes, I wish the government would tell you poison tastes good so you'd eat it.

Listen up sheeple.

Cigarettes are legal. They kill 400,000 people in the U.S. per year. That's like if 9/11 happened 200 times per year, totaling approximately 1,400 9/11s since the actual event.

Illegal: Medical marijuana relieves people with terminal illnesses from dying in severe pain.

Legal: U.S. based Engineering/Construction companies enter third-world countries with short-term promises that lead to long-term debts. The companies have economists working around the clock to ensure that these poor countries will fall into an insurmountable debt. The U.S. government then lends money to these countries to help pay the debt. That means the countries are now in debt to the U.S., and in kind the U.S. steals U.N. votes, builds military bases in their countries and drills oil (which 1. pollutes their environment horrifically and 2. drives people living in these areas off their land) in exchange for partial payments on a debt that will never be fully repaid.

Illegal: Gay marriage.

Legal: Profit-sector lobbyists.

Legal: Car companies such as Ford have determined that they would save more money paying off people who sue for injuries and deaths than recalling their dysfunctional cars. So they choose not to recall them, and thousands of people die as a result. They save money.

Legal: CIA assassinations/oustings of inspiring leaders in Latin America/Africa/Southeast Asia throughout the last fifty years. Cheney's treasonous CIA name leak in response to a disgruntled ambassador, tabloid newspapers, Bush's genocidal war and his torture camps, maniacal (and some reported "recreational") murders, courtesy of Blackwater and other "security" firms in northern Iraq.

Illegal: Gay marriage. Seriously. Gay marriage.

Our legal system sucks.

-- KippMueller - 07 Mar 2012

That's right Kipp. The crazy part of all this, as discussed in books like 1984 and even in the Leff reading, is that a lot of events are created and "dramatized" for a particular purpose (e.g. to win a presidential election, to convince citizens to support attacking a country). You have to fight to receive the right education, because many people receive an education that teaches them to be "robotic," resistant to change, and not to question the status quo. You can't believe everything officials tell you. Some people are hypnotized without even knowing it. I refuse to take the blue pill because that would be a life not worth living.

-- WilliamDavidWilliams - 07 Mar 2012

William David, thank you for bringing up the distinction between law and morality. I think your point about inadequate education making people resistant to change is well-supported by our experience here at CLS. In law school, we're indoctrinated to not think about morality at all when talking about the law. For example, in crim law, our professor briefly spoke about the absence of credible evidence supporting the justifications for capital punishment. Yet our discussion focused on how to apply capital punishment statutes (Is capital punishment, in this particular case, legal?), rather than whether we should have capital punishment at all. Our professor said something like, "Capital punishment is here and it's queer," and there was no opportunity to discuss/challenge the concept of capital punishment. I understand that there's a lot of law to get through in class, but taking government-sanctioned law as default gives off the message that as lawyers, we shouldn't challenge the law, because it is what it is. That doesn't train us to be courageous.

Responding to William David's comment that "There is definitely still slavery in America, but is so subtle that it's hard for many to see," I think that the American obsession with political correctness definitely perpetuates it. The fear of being labeled as a "racist" makes it so that we don't talk about race frequently enough or frankly enough.

-- MichelleLuo - 08 Mar 2012

Thank you for the response Michelle. I am often frustrated too when some classes don't leave time for discussing morality. It's not even a matter of everyone agreeing, but in actually developing your own opinion. Also, in regards to slavery, I agree with you regarding the racial component, but there is another component that many don't see as well: "Psychological Slavery." Too many people follow the law because it's the law. They don't question because they are taught not to question. Maybe the system already works for them and they don't want it to change. We cannot blindly follow policies, especially when we wouldn't support those policies if we were on the other side. I hope you were able to watch the video I linked to my first post, because war is a prime example. No one lives forever. You might as well make it worthwhile. Some people are not really "living." You can't be afraid to die for something you believe in, or afraid of the ridicule that might result if you don't agree with the majority opinion. If you are, no progress is made.

-- WilliamDavidWilliams - 08 Mar 2012

That speech was powerful, I think more so because it was coming from someone who can back up his observations with his experience. It's difficult for the State to sanction killing and dying without othering the enemy.

Your point about psychological slavery reminds me of the blue-eyed/brown-eyed Jane Elliott experiment(the story begins at around 1 minute). Elliott, a school teacher, split the class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed kids in order to teach them about discrimination. On day one, she told them that the brown-eyed people were inferior. On day two, she said the blue-eyed people were inferior. On both days, the "superior" kids were mean to the "inferior" ones. In the video, Elliott says that she learned more from the "superior" kids than the "inferior" kids because their personalities changed more. One aspect of the demonstration that I find particularly interesting is that even though the brown-eyed kids were treated inferiorly the first day and knew what that felt like, when things switched and they had the opportunity to be in power, they went along with the system and discriminated against the blue-eyed kids because it worked for them. Of course, things are more complicated outside of an elementary school classroom experiment, but the study does illustrate one variation of psychological slavery.

-- MichelleLuo - 12 Mar 2012

I heard about the blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment, but the video really put it into perspective. This is basically the "subconscious" losing of your identity and replacing it with the ideals of the corporation/organization that you have become part of that Arnold discusses in The Folklore of Capitalism. The experiment hits me hard because that has been my life experience.

My mother told me that my late grandmother had scraps of food given to her to eat by the white family that she worked for as a domestic. The family thought it was proper for her to eat them. As a child, I couldn't figure out why so many African Americans were deemed as "criminals" or "savages" that only could participate in athletics or something else artistic (e.g. rap). Going through school, people were surprised I was so focused on academics. What they didn't know is that I didn't give in to the propaganda. I remember reading how "scientists" did skull studies and concluded that blacks were the least intelligent race. Watching the Jane Elliott experiment when the commentator reported that kids who were deemed as superior "always did better on their tests," made me think about how people attempt to condition society to think that African Americans are not qualified and unintelligent.

During my freshman year of college, a professor asked who was "most likely to be a criminal." I was the only black person in class. Someone responded and said, "William David." She said why and the student replied, "because he's black." I addressed her and later the class, but it pains me to see so many African Americans in prison. My constitutional law professor addressed this in class briefly with an Oklahoma Sterilization case in which a facially neutral statute attempted sterilize African Americans because they were "convicted" of certain crimes (e.g. stealing chickens). It was more evidence of Jim Crow laws, as this treatment of African Americans has been conditioned in this society.

When I became the first person in my family to graduate from college, I thought about how tough it was for me to do so. I thought about my aunts working in fast food and how proud they were of me (may have been the first in my extended family too - at least on my mother's side). My father has never contacted me since I was two. All I saw were child support checks. This behavior has been conditioned in society, as black males are not supposed to be family men.

During Teach for America, students called professional English "White English," and wanted to know why I didn't pursue the NFL or another professional league. I explained how it wasn't White English and why helping them receive the "right education" was more important to me than that.

My life is just an example of this conditioning. Native Americans have had it extremely rough too. I am upset that it is so engrained in society. Even some "civil rights leaders" perpetuate it. I refuse to be a House Negro, however, which is accepted because you are not challenging the system and are accepting the "inferiority" label. This Malcolm X speech discusses the topic poetically.

It's important that you see this too. Deep down although I am proud to be in law school, I realize that so many people never get this opportunity, and many people that do get this opportunity don't really use their law degree for social justice. I feel connected to all those who struggled before me and refuse to let them down. I came to law school to change unjust laws and to advocate for those that the law has turned its back on, not to perpetuate the injustice that the law has sanctioned.