"And Justice for all"

 

Institutions are funny things, especially public institutions. Take public schools. They are supposed to stand for something, but not take a stance on anything. Say the pledge everyday but don't argue about what "and justice for all" means. School boards can be political, but the districts they govern should carry out political decisions without political motivation. 

But there is an uncomfortable and untenable situation in my community on which public institutions should take a stance. In 2021 our county board voted against declaring our county “A Community for All” in response to the growing national discussion prompted by the public murder of George Floyd, citing reverse-discrimination. (Read the New York Times coverage here.) 

More recently, controversy has erupted in a local district over the alleged use of racial slurs and insensitive comments toward our Hmong population by a band teacher. The teacher was recently reinstated with what appears to be full support from the administration and school board. (Read local coverage here.)

Finally, a group of young Hmong students addressed a local school board about the frequency and disruptiveness of the the discriminatory actions and comments they experience in the school and community. 

I'm not calling for revolution, retribution or restitution.  That's often unhelpful in situations like this.  We jump to conclusions far too quickly, especially conclusions with a dash a self-serving, self-righteous condemnation. 

So I wouldn't describe our community as a community of hate or discrimination. It is full of wonderful, ignorant people, including myself. I say ignorant to highlight being unaware of others' experiences, not to condemn anyone for not knowing because ignorance is a natural condition. So is hunger, curiosity, wonder and love.

But I also don't think hate or discrimination are limited to feelings. Like curiosity, wonder and love, hate and discrimination are about actions.

So I wouldn't call our community a community of justice, either. Certainly, there are a multitude of individuals and organizations that act justly, helping those in need, sticking up for each other in the face of obstacles, extending mercy or consequence as they see need. And yet, justice acts, looks and feels too different in too many places. It is as if we live with an atomized aggregate of separate and unconnected actions all labeled as just; this drunk driver is arrested, this hungry child is fed, this woman is supported in leaving an abusive husband. There is no connection between these events, necessarily. They co-exist, nothing more.

While I'm not asking for an entire community, let alone nation, to perfectly execute the same interpretation of justice in all behavior, I am asking a community to work on breaking down the perceived and projected differences that hinder taking care of each other because the perceived and projected differences is what keeps the actions of justice in our community separate and isolated.

We are busy bickering about different experiences when we should be planning parties to celebrate each other.

It doesn't help that the frame of perception we so often use when encountering someone different from us is the false notion that justice is transactional, mostly functioning on a zero sum basis. I lose and that person wins. Or I win and that person loses. This way of thinking is a violence itself. 

I'm not saying there isn't some practical truth to the zero sum understanding or that it doesn't have a pragmatic place in understanding and responding to situations. A school shooter needs to lose and lose quickly. However, the zero sum understanding is limited in applicability, mostly to situations of violence. 

It's better to assume interdependent and reciprocal relationships. My prosperity is interconnected with another's, my safety with another's, my justice, my freedom, my speech, my children's education, my rights. My interests in these things are not devoid from others' interests. And, further, my responsibility for these things is tied up in others' responsibility for these things. This is not to say we should have a community vote every time our children ask to borrow the car, or we want to put up solar panels in our field. But it is to suggest that we are not approaching community issues of justice with a perspective that emphasizes that all people deserve the same access to justice but that doesn't mean everyone gets the same thing. 

In other words, to care for our neighbor means to embrace what makes my neighbor different from me, otherwise I only care for myself.