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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
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NOTtllWSSt N atU K ll C j 3S
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