I had a piece already written about a lighter subject, but recent events out of Minnesota changed the best-laid plans of mice and bloggers.
When four members of the Minneapolis Police Department detained and eventually killed George Floyd for attempting to pass counterfeit money, it started off a chain of events resulting in property being destroyed, people being injured, and general discord around the world. And, as you might expect, politics got injected into the situation early and often.
Enter Representative Ilhan Omar and the other members of “The Squad.” The Minnesota Congresswoman took to Twitter to help promote donations to ActBlue.com, a Leftist website, under the auspices of racial justice. What is that? I’m glad you asked, otherwise I’m out a topic for the Lexicon.
racial justice
What the Left thinks it means – getting justice for disenfranchised people of color
What it really means – tilting the scales of justice to favor people of color at the expense of actual justice
There is a reason statues of Lady Justice wear a blindfold; justice is supposed to be blind. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been when it comes to police officers and black criminals. In the former case, sentences tend to be on the light side, while in the latter case, those sentences are harsher. And it’s been going on for far too long.
Hence, the Left’s renewed call for racial justice. This is another term the Left devised that combines a powerful word that appeals to most Americans (justice) and adds a politically-charged modifier (racial) designed to advance an agenda. In this case, the goal is to take any negative feelings about racism and apply it to the judicial system to allow blacks and other minorities a chance to experience what the Left thinks/knows whites have enjoyed for so long.
The scary part is the Left has a point. Blacks and whites do not have equal justice in America, no matter how hard we try to ignore it. And before you start throwing out statistics about what percentage of blacks commit what percentage of crimes, the fact it took days to arrest the officer who choked George Floyd and at least contributed to his death shows how screwed up our justice system is.
Having said that, the Left’s solution isn’t to fix the problems, but screw them up even more by using race as even more of a factor than it already is. Of course, that’s by design. One of the cornerstones of Leftist ideology is to undermine the American legal system and institute a global legal system, an idea most American Presidents have rejected. But, the Left doesn’t give up that easily and has made progress towards their goals. The very fact we have four Representatives on record advocating for racial justice in an attempt to raise funds is proof of how emboldened they feel right now.
By adding race into a court proceeding, it guarantees the results will not be just because it prevents the jury from doing its sworn job. It’s not to try to figure out what race deserves what punishment; it’s to determine guilt or innocence based on the law and the arguments presented by the attorneys involved. Any thought outside of those two elements muddies the waters, making actual justice harder to obtain.
Granted, I’m a white guy and have undoubtedly received preferential treatment because of it, even though I don’t want it. We are supposed to be equal under the law, so I prefer to be treated equally. No, that doesn’t mean I want to be treated as poorly as blacks have. It means I want blacks to be on an even playing field with me. Racial justice doesn’t strive to do that. Instead, it strives to make race a major factor in determining whether I go free if I’m found not guilty or punished more severely if I’m found guilty.
In trying to bring racial justice to fruition, the Left has made justice racist. Good job, I guess?
Meanwhile, we should not be scared to point out the disparities between how blacks and whites are treated. It doesn’t start with looting, violence, and vandalism. It’s starts with a conversation so we can learn from each other and build a stronger relationship as a result. And, yes, that means we white folk are going to have to be willing to listen and accept how blacks have been treated overall, but it will lead to a much greater result, one that will make The Squad’s call for racial justice obsolete.
I think this is both fair and unfair to people with a left/liberal/progressive leaning. Certainly, for those where the term ‘racial justice’ means reparations for past injustices, I agree with you that is really injecting a form of racism into justice. No one should be held accountable for actions their ancestors perpetuated. And certain some liberals want special consideration in courts where race is involved. However, for most of the liberals I know, when they use the term ‘racial justice’ they really do mean exact what you goal is – justice that is blind, like the statue that represents justice. They do not want special considerations or reparations or anything other than justice to be blind and fairly applied regardless of race, gender, etc., etc., etc. So, to say every one on the left who say ‘racial injustice’ is trying to increase consideration of race in justice I think really represents a minority of actual voters on the left. Perhaps a disproportionately higher number of left leaning politicians mean what you state, but unlikely a majority of actual liberal citizens.
Thank you for responding, Paul!
A bit of explanation is in order. When I refer to Leftists, I am not referring to everyone of a liberal persuasion. For the purpose of transparency, I consider myself a small-L libertarian/classic liberal, so I appreciate the differences and nuances in liberalism. When I reference Leftists, it’s to point out those who adopt the general term without accepting the basic principles.
To me, a liberal believes in Man’s superiority to the State while a Leftist believes in Man’s inferiority to the State. Right now, I see liberals getting drowned out in discourse by those like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez or rhetorically pummeled into submission like Nancy Pelosi.
You raise an interesting point about the percentage of how many left-leaning folks believe as I describe them. I admit I don’t have hard data to back up my beliefs, but from what I’ve learned and experienced in my younger days, I can say with reasonable certainty Leftists are focused on limiting personal freedom under the guise of making the world a better place.
Ah, with your definition of ‘Leftist’ I wholeheartedly agree. A classically conservative principle that I endorse is smaller, more limited government and, yes, one very common principle among most of the “far-left” that drives me nuts is that everything can be solved by ever more government. Especially, given that government is run by people, and their advocacy for more government is usually to enforce rules on people because they don’t trust them. The irony and hypocrisy is enormous!
I’ll chime in now with my 2 cents worth. Left is not the same a Liberal. Many have written on this subject in the past including myself in a previous incarnation of this blog. I might have to do that again so it reappears in the list.