One might think that the concept of justice would be relatively easy to comprehend. Common sense would dictate that justice demands that everyone be held to the same standard.
Justice:the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness;Just: based on right; rightful; lawful.
The definitions of ‘justice’ and ‘just’ do not include qualifying criteria based on power, skin color, wealth or minority status.Lady Liberty wears a blindfold. Justice is blind to any factors other than guilty or innocence and legal or illegal.
Justice demands that the billionaire murderer and the homeless murderer be treated the same. The law applies the presumption of innocence, the right to a trial and commensurate penalties to both.
Unfortunately a concept popularized as ‘social justice’ has redefined justice based on social circumstance. Social justice is a mutation of justice. It is grounded in the profoundly patronizing idea that certain groups should be held to a lower standard. It’s another incarnation of “the bigotry of lower expectations”. Unfortunately some on the left would have us categorize politically correct segments of society as exempt from the legal and moral standards that apply to everyone else. It’s the legal balkanization of justice.
Social justice proponents condescendingly seek to mitigate the bad behavior of those they deem poor, powerless or fitting the progressive definition of a minority (women are included ). Their version of balancing the scales of justice is to apply the presumption of guilt to wealthy, powerful (police officer carrying a gun), and “privileged” white people.
An example of social justice theory has been on display in Ferguson Missouri with reference to the shooting of Michael Brown (black teen) by Officer Darren Wilson (white cop). For weeks we have witnessed protesters seeking social justice for Michael Brown. Social justice theory presumes that the police officer is guilty and the black teen innocent. Facts are peripheral. It’s Jim Crow turned on its head. Coming to the desired conclusion; a white cop murdered an innocent black teenager, is all that matters. It’s a mantra rather then a reasoned assessment based on the evidence.
Tragically, social justice proponents make far less of a fuss about the daily carnage committed by young black men killing primarily other black men and innocent bystanders. Those murders can’t be rationalized in social justice terms. Black on black crime contradicts the social justice mentality. Both perpetrator and victim fall into the victim category. Blaming bad guys (and they are predominantly guys) based exclusively on behavior detached from social circumstance or race is something that can’t be accepted by social justice theorists. The aggrieved individual is never 100% responsible for his behavior. It is always the social circumstances that are responsible.
What should have been a local news item, the tragic and potentially criminal behavior of a cop in Ferguson, became a national story about racism and police brutality. But the crimes committed by thousands of black murderers killing other black people are mere footnotes on page twelve. Meanwhile one homicide in Ferguson becomes a national cause celeb.
When Derk Brown, founder of the website “Justice for Michael Brown” was asked about justice he said, “I want justice for Michael Brown”. When asked about justice for Officer Wilson, Derk looked confused. He was genuinely flummoxed by the idea that justice could ever by done by allowing a white cop who shoots a black teen go free. Michael Brown’s behavior is of no note. Facts, which neither he nor I were privy too until yesterday, were irrelevant. This is the quintessential social justice mentality. The facts are twisted or ignored to fit a preconceived conclusion: racist white cop, innocent black teen.
Allegations and rumors about how the shooting played out circulated for months. Facts were in short supply. Nonetheless social justice leader Al Sharpton was certain of what happened. As provocateur par excellence he agitates and exploits every chance he gets. Making bad things worse, Mr. Sharpton has become a White House consultant and the media’s designated black spokesman. His long and checkered past with reference to his exploitation of Tawana Brawley, incendiary Crown Heights rhetoric concerning an accidental homocide and his efforts to destroy the lives of innocent young men in the Duke lacrosse affair appear to have no impact on his credibility among those in the social justice crowd.
Sharpton’s pursuit of social justice exudes with racial animus as he besmirches the concept of justice. He uses threats as leverage to intimidate jurors, witnesses, prosecutors and politicians. It’s a nauseating display of the pursuit of injustice. Grand jurors showed unusual courage by failing to bring an indictment.The only people exposed to all the facts, witnesses and forensics found no crime. That’s the way justice works.