Social Contract: An implicit agreement among members of a a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. If the state fails in upholding this contract, the members of society have a duty and a right to demand the state adhere to the Social Contract. If the state fails to comply, the members of the society have a right and an obligation to change the state.Over the last few days I have been fairly silent. I have been trying to make sense of the world, events, and people. There have been so many things happening in our nation over the past week, accompanied by the dissonance of competing views and actions, often leveled at those who are allies in the debate. When I am trying to make sense of situations and problems I don't react, I listen. I have found that being reactionary serves no real purpose other than to further fan the flames of unfocused passion and often only exacerbates the existing problem. So I listen. I listen to both sides, intently and actively. While I listen, I think and begin to ferret out my own thoughts and opinions. This past week has been particularly vexing as there are so many angles and issues, all with their own independent problems, tied into one single idea: The Social Contract.
Racism and Race Relations
Racism or bigotry in any form is wrong. If you believe that any group of people or any individual is inferior to you because of the color of their skin, their religious beliefs, who they are attracted to, their political beliefs, their economic situation, their nationality, or their ethnicity it is not these people who are inferior, it is you. If you hold these beliefs, you are inferior because you are so insecure in who you are and what you believe that you are scared and threatened by those who are different than you. You would rather be wrapped in the weighted blanket of insularity and remain sequestered as a monk in your gloomy cell of uniformity. Simply because someone does not look the same as you, live the same as you, or see the world the same as you does not make them bad or wrong, it just makes them different. If you are scared of people who are different, I really do pity you. If you just hate or dislike people who are different, I truly believe there is a special place in hell for you.
I have written a past blog on racism as well as a blog post on what I believe to the be the origins of bigotry in the United States so I do not intend to spend much time on those issues here. However, I will say this; While race issues may seem to be unique to the United States, they are unique only by circumstance. We are a nation that really has no defined nationality or ethnicity. We all say we are "Americans", but what does that really mean? There is not any real nationality or ethnicity that is "American". American is a made up term to encompass a broad swath of people who came here, and still come here, from all over because they believed that here was better than where they came from. This is truly special. It is also a curse, because with such diversity in looks, beliefs and lifestyles comes suspicion and ignorance. These are the prime ingredients of bigotry and racism. We have overcome many of these problems but for every one we overcome, there are five more to confront. We can do better and, I believe, we will continue to work towards fulfilling the promise of America. One step at a time.
Responsibility
I, like most of the world, was shocked and horrified when I saw the video of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police officers. What happened was inexcusable, inexplicable, and disgusting. Those police officers should go to prison and never again see the light of day as free men. Since that incident, I have spent time thinking about "law and order" in the United States and I have come to this conclusion: It is time to have real, honest conversations about how to apply and preserve "law and order" in this nation.
I think it is inescapable to come to the conclusion that minorities in this nation, particularly young black males, have entirely different experiences with law enforcement than do whites, particularly white males. I have never been fearful of law enforcement in my life and when I have had interactions with the police never have I been worried about how that interaction would turn out. I have had several students of color tell me that they when they have interacted with the police they are very worried about how the situation will resolve. All we need to do is look at two events that took place just days apart. In Michigan many angry people, most of whom were white men, entered the Michigan state capitol wearing combat fatigues and tactical gear with weapons- many of which were semi-automatic weapons. These protesters stood toe to toe with a phalanx of police officers who were preventing them access to the state legislature chambers, yelling and spitting in the faces of these officers. The officers stood their ground, calmly took the abuse and allowed these "freedom protesters" to make their voice heard. At no point did it become violent or chaotic save for the wanna-be soldiers who felt it necessary to parade around a state capitol building with high powered weapons. Now juxtapose this to George Floyd who was an unarmed black male being arrested for attempting to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. The result of this fairly low level crime was Mr. Floyd laying face down on the pavement handcuffed while a police officer knelt on his neck applying his body weight and slowly choking to death Mr. Floyd while several other officers stood and watched. The response to both of these situations was remarkable. The amount of restraint shown in one and the lack of restraint shown in the other. Unfortunately, these juxtapositions are not exclusive and isolated to these incidents. There are several, well documented instances where minorities- young male minorities specifically, and young black males in particular- are treated, or mistreated far differently than are whites, specifically white males. This inequity has got to change. The creed of our nation, and our bond of humanity demands that this be changed.
One step in this direction is identifying and eradicating the "bad cops" from the police force. There are "bad apples" who are not police for the right reasons and are there to satisfy some unmet need in their lives. These "bad cops" sully the reputation of all police officers. It is for this reason that all police officers must "out" the bad cops. If a cop is abusing their position, and is an officer for any reason other than protecting and serving their community they need to outed as well as be dismissed. All of this "protect our own" nonsense has got to stop. If protecting your own interferes with protecting the community, then the police have failed in their mission. If the mission of police is to protect and serve the community, then it is the duty of the 98% who are good cops to help rid themselves of the 2% who are not upholding that mission. One bad cop destroys the standing of one thousand good cops.
I am not painting in a broad stroke that all police are bad. Because I know they are not. I personally know and have known many police officers. I count among my friends several police officers. They do, day in and day out, a very tough but important job. I know that the overwhelming majority of police do their job for the right reasons. I admire their tenacity and dedication. I too work in a profession that has some image problems. There are people out there who believe that lots of teachers go into education so that they can have access to young children, groom them and then subsequently abuse them. These same people also believe that if teachers are not abusing students, they know teachers who are. Both of these notions are wildly inaccurate. The vast majority of teachers go into education for the right reasons. If I knew of a teacher who was abusing students I would feel a moral and a professional obligation to report that teacher immediately. Not doing so makes me complicit and would represent a colossal failure on my part. Any time a teacher does abuse a student it damages the reputation of my profession, I have a duty to protect myself and my profession by turning in any teacher I know perpetrating such acts. I do not want that teacher to be the face or representative for my profession. Police need to have the same mentality. It is our shared responsibility for those that we serve as well as our professions.
The Social Contract
Over the past several days I have heard and read in various forms these two statements: Why are they rioting and looting? and America has a historical record of enacting change through riots. Both are valid points to a degree, but both, I believe, are limited as well.
I understand the rage and anger of the protests this past week. The frustration is palatable. Peaceful protest is a protected and cherished right in this nation. Violent protest is not protected. The protests that were at times loud and disruptive and at other times solemn and powerful were immensely effective. However, when the riots became destructive that's when the impact of the protest was lost. Indiscriminately shattering windows, destroying or defacing property, or looting only erodes the message and only serves to limit any public support for the movement. However, it is also a manifestation of the fury and sense of helplessness felt by segments of society. Is it unhelpful? Without a doubt. Is it to a degree understandable? Perhaps.
As for the argument that riots have helped bring about change in America, this notion is true as well, with this caveat; the overwhelming majority of riots that helped bring about change were very targeted and focused riots. If we look at the most famous riot in American history, the Boston Tea Party, it was very focused on one specific thing, English tea. There was not indiscriminate destruction or rioting that took place. The same is true with Bacon's Rebellion in which western Massachusetts farmers attacked and burnt courthouses that were foreclosing on farms due to unfair taxes. Again in Nat Turner's Rebellion, the violence was focused on their oppressors and not on everyone. When the Minneapolis Police Precinct building was burned this past week, shocking as it was, that was a powerful and focused statement. The shattering of windows and destruction of private vehicles in the street? Not so much.
In all of the instances mentioned above, including the burning of the Minneapolis Police Precinct, were the result of people realizing that the Social Contract between them and the state had been broken. Under this theory, when the state is unable or unwilling to adhere to the Social Contract, the people have the right to demand changes to the Social Contract. In focused attacks those demands are being forced upon the state.
Epilogue
I firmly believe that these events of the past week will serve some good. It will force long needed conversations to take place about American society. We need to further discuss the role of race and racism in America. We need to re-examine police culture and policing tactics in this nation. We need to reflect upon and rededicate ourselves to the American Promise and the ideals upon which this nation was found.
Moving forward, I think we will make progress in race relations and systemic problems in this country. It still won't be perfect, and there will still be work to be done but we will be closer to the end than we were before. Ultimately that is the story of America, we are not perfect, we will never be perfect, but we will always strive to achieve a more perfect union.
No comments:
Post a Comment