“If this country should ever reach the point where any man or group of men, by force or threat of force, could long delay the commands of our courts or our Constitution, then no law would stand free from doubt, no judge would be sure of his writ and citizen safe from his neighbors.”
I find this quote remarkably pertinent in today’s environment. An election in November 2020 occurred, the results were questioned, legal challenges were exhausted, and the final outcome was certified. Yet a group of marauders, spurred on by folks disregarding the rule of law, ransacked our Capitol further disregarding the rule of law and the majority will of the people. Such a series of events have frightening consequences if allowed to go unchecked and not adjudicated according the laws of our country and our Constitution.
So is this quote directly related to this current state of affairs? Yes, but it is from President John F. Kennedy. In September 1962, he addressed the nation regarding the lawlessness and the disregard for the law in Mississippi. He had just ordered the federalization of the National Guard to carry out court orders to desegregate the University of Mississippi. James Meredith had “won” his protracted legal battle to enroll.1
Governor Ross Barnett had proclaimed that “no school in our state will be integrated while I am governor,” adding that he would make any and every sacrifice to “preserve the racial integrity of our people and our institutions.” He vowed to protect southern patriots (like members of the White Citizens’ Council [white supremacist group]). His open defiance served to invoke chaos and mob violence and ultimately the death of two men during one of the melees.
His disobedience of the rule of law (multiple court rulings mandating integration) fueled the flames of discontent with those that viewed segregation as “natural” and integration as evil. The subjugation of black people via slavery and then the “Jim Crow” South were part of the life that they cherished, and change was not a welcome sight. The Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, and judicial rulings such as Brown v. Education in 1954 were to be treated with disdain. Equal treatment for humans, albeit with different skin coloring, was totally up to the people that were in charge, in their view. The legal system in the US, applying equal treatment under the law, was willfully ignored for far too long in the hotbeds of segregation.
A recounting of our tarnished past reveals significant flaws in human nature and flaws in the legal system. The civil rights of too many people were suppressed using twisted arguments, malicious denial, and political clout that could not be criticized for fear of being ostracized, injured or worse. The attacks on the Freedom Riders, the violent slaying of young Emmet Till, the assassination of Medgar Evers, the KKK intimidation campaigns, and the Selma (Bloody Sunday) march are just a few of dramatic events that have occurred in my lifetime. One might argue that we have made significant strides forward, but the scars of the past are not easily rectified in 1-2 generations or with some instant wealth. As Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative reminds us, “the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice.”
Justice is the goal for the equal treatment of our fellow citizens. And citizens are not defined by their race. As a matter of fact, there is no biologic basis for race. Race has become a social construct that has allowed some to label others as inferior or different.
What’s my point with the comparison between the civil rights movement’s early struggles and denial of the November 2020 election results with the subsequent January 6th insurrection? It is quite plain to me that the early segregationists and their perversion of the rule of law are eerily similar to the attempt by some prominent politicians to subvert the rule of law with the attack on the Capitol and the continued attack on our laws and the Constitution. We are still suffering from racism today (60 years after Kennedy’s address). The events of January 6th will also linger for decades to come if we continue to ignore the lessons of history. Kennedy’s remarks are indeed pertinent and were prescient for today. We will not have learned the lessons of history and will be the worse for it.
Why is this important? Children learn from adults and if they learn that wanton disregard for the rule of law and that not being empathetic toward others are acceptable behaviors, we have failed. We need to be emphasizing what really matters – truth, trust, science, civility, diversity and faith.2 Only with a humble understanding of our common humanity can we truly apply the principles of justice and avoid the cost of lies.3 Our children deserve so much better.
- Historical information from CIVIL RIGHTS QUEEN: CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY AND THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY by Tomiko Brown-Nagin (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563298/civil-rights-queen-by-tomiko-brown-nagin/)
- https://mychildrenschildren.com/what-really-matters/
- https://mychildrenschildren.com/the-cost-of-lies-2/