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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1999)
, • W .- s m $ o rtla « h © bseruer n m — *» f t Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition Social Conscience B y C harles D. H ayes Mention civil disobedience, and most people think of Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi. But, a hundred years before their time, Henry David Thoreau was its cham pion. Thoreau was very nearly an an archist, and his contempt for govern ment has caused him to be greatly misunderstood. In his essay “Civil Disobedience”, published in 1849, rhoreau argues that the government which governs best is the one that “governs not at all.” People who misinterpret his work stop there, failing to recognize that what he advocated was “better government.” His notion of better government required superior con stituents. King andGandhi knew exactly what he meant. In a country made up of citizens like Thoreau, there would be no need for much government at all. And, in such a society, institutions like slavery would be impossible. Thoreau’s essay was a clarion call for development of a social con science by each and every member of society, not just by victims of op pression and injustice. He asks, “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man of conscience, then?...The only ob ligation which I have a right to as sume is to do at any time what 1 think right” Beyond the oppressors them selves, Thoreau, also held account able those who benefited from the oppression, regardless of whether they had anything to do with creating the injustice. By extension, the con cept of nonviolence is first and fore most of nonviolence then is to not participate in oppression. Ifyour bank discriminates against minorities, for example, move your account. Thoreau’s philosophy was about accepting responsibility. More than for the evils in herent in govern ment, he held con tempt for the lack of public aware ness and felt re s p o n s ib ility among the free citizens o f his time. Little has changed. Turn your television to the financial news and you will hear talk of leveraged multiples, short selling, buyouts, and arbitrage with Charles D. Hayes jargon so com plex as to defy comprehension. And yet, the majority of people who strain to understand these convoluted con cepts cannot conceive that people Jan. 13, 1999^ C16 Civil Responsibility who enjoy the advantage of this sys tem, which is unjust by design, bear any responsi bility for set ting it right. Economic jus tice requires thinking about fairness with as much intellec tual rigor and enthusiasm as we apply to Wall Street in vestments. Thoreau al lowed that each o f us might pursue legiti mate interests without taking up the banner of a particular injus tice. At the very least, however, we have a duty stop benefiting from the disadvantage of others. We must not, as a result of our advantage, sit “upon another's shoulders.” Simply put he holds each of us responsible for the society we live in today. It matters not a whit to Thoreau that you and 1 weren’t a party to establishing the institutions which continue to per petuate injustices through discrimi nation and exclusion. That we benefit from them today, in ignorance of our own continued accomplice, is not an excuse. King put it this way: “Many people fear nothing more terribly than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevail ing opinion. The tendency of most is to adopt a view that is so ambiguous that it will include everything and so popular that it will include every body.” He and Gandhi understood the power of injustice brought to light. They knew that nonviolent pro test — especially when those who protest are mistreated - will bring social conscience to bear on anyone who harbors any semblance of hon esty. More than a century has passed since Thoreau published “Civil Dis obedience,” yet millions of Ameri cans remain unmoved to figure out for themselves what is just and un just. The sophomoric sense of citi zenship embraced by too many for too long is a freedom from - a pov erty-stricken sense o f freedom which focuses on what each of us has a right to escape at the expense of responsibility we should own. People who deny their culpability for slavery because they were not yet bom when it was practiced, find it hard to comprehend that they, as citizens are responsible for what is today. If injustices are still present as a result of the institution of sla very, then each of us the duty to discover the cause, the effect, and the remedy. GERALD M. CHASE - RICHARD L. WEIL The Thacf^United (Fund o f Oregon Salutes (Dr. (Martin Luther (King Jr. Otis Legacy Lives On Attorneys at Law 722 S. W. 2nd Avenue, Suite 240 Portland, OR 97204 (503) 294-1414 “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Continue the (egacy! Support The (Btack United (Fund of Oregon TO . <Bo\124O6 Torthand, O ^ 97212 (503)282-7973 —M artin Luther K in g Jr. T he n ext t im e Y O U R PO W ER G O E S □ U T , R E M E M B E R , K eep the D ream A live . T H IS L IG H T IS A LW A YS O N Legacy Health System honors Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 18. High-efficiency natural gas appliances not only save you money and energy evety month, they also work when the power goes out. Not that this happens all the time. But when it does, y o u ’ll be comforted to know you can still cook on y our gas range, shower using your gas w ater heater, and warm yoursell by y our gas fireplace. 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