Justice..... What is Justice? Do it mean the same to everyone? Is it a myth, a socially accepted fabricated principle based upon an astrological scale that never seems to balance itself out? Justice for all intents and purposes is the exacted measurement of righting a wrong and bringing some sort of satisfaction to and for the principles involved in a conflict, whether it be legal or otherwise. According to Wikipedia Justice is defined as the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, fairness, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics.
Alright, so let's delve into this a little deeper. "The concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationalilty, law, natural, fairness or equity along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics. Right off the bat the first thing that stands out for me is having the words law and fairness in the same sentence because it comes off as the ultimate oxymoron. Now, the average person may think that I'm being a bit melodramatic in my surmation, but thank Allah that I'm not the average person. See I'm speaking from a platform of a man who still has a very sour taste in his mouth after serving a 10 1/2 year sentence in the penal system
However this is not my story, well not entirely. When I was a young kid I can remember seeing pictures of Emmet Till in his casket and could not for the life of me understand how his mother allowed her son to be viewed like that. I've grown and changed my stance on that issue. But let's get back to justice. History has shown that individuals who didn't appear to have a voice or any "so called" rights always cried out for Justice to be served whenever their, not civil, or human, but inalienable rights were infringed upon. For centuries those same cries have echoed and resonated throughtout galaxies and universe throughout the Solar system unanswered because those who are impoverished, disenfranchised, and have darker hue skins containing mass amounts of melanin are still looking for this ghost to appear.
It has become a practice to provide protection upon things and or people that have value and if there is so type of infraction then those who violate will penalized to the fullest exent of the law. For a lot of us justice is the not the entity that "prides itself on moral rightness." No justice is the dark cloak reaper who moves across the face of the earth with a hood and a face that has never been seen to bring more and more pain, misery and suffering to anyone that crosses it's path. Was justice served when Michael Stewart was killed in a NYC transit station for tagging or spray painting graffiti on the wall. Was Amadou Diallo given justice when he was gunned down for reaching for a wallet to show ID he was asked to produce. If justice is the scale that the moralilty, law, natural law, and fairness is placed upon then explain to me why is it so evasive and why won't it show it's face to us?
The holders and makers of the law are quick to tell us just how right and fair this system is but the "Standard Business Procedures" that these laws are encased in speak to the contrary. Now, I'm not going to bore you with loads of statistics and cases to coroborate my position. No, I'm speaking strictly from a moral principal that has us living in a country that has a constitution and a set of laws that were written for a select group of people and we wonder we protection isn't given. Why the phrase "fair trial" is like going to a vegetarian restaurant and asking for a hamburger. It's ludicrous.
And today is no exception. Most of us know about the Oscar Grant trial and were outrage by the outcome of the sentencing, however when you look at from the reverse angle you will see that according the morals and ethics of those who wield the power justice was served. See when you stand in front of a person or people who don't see you or value you as a human being then it makes it easy to discard you and your existence. The police officer is valuable to those in power because they would rather slap one of their "overseerers" on the writst for doing what they told him to do in the first place, then to give justice to the family of the man he is charged with seeing over.
Yes, I'm talking about slavery, but from a different perspective, however the way punishment is metted out hasn't changed much. So, if you're expecting justice to become courageous and show his face to you, forget it. However rest assure that if it is deemed that you have fallen outside of his "moral rightness" then his face will no longer be an issue, but his wrath, well that's a whole other story. In the end the sad part in all of this is we keep getting shown that all we have is JUST US and we still won't come together. Rest In Power Oscar Grant.
Alright, so let's delve into this a little deeper. "The concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationalilty, law, natural, fairness or equity along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics. Right off the bat the first thing that stands out for me is having the words law and fairness in the same sentence because it comes off as the ultimate oxymoron. Now, the average person may think that I'm being a bit melodramatic in my surmation, but thank Allah that I'm not the average person. See I'm speaking from a platform of a man who still has a very sour taste in his mouth after serving a 10 1/2 year sentence in the penal system
However this is not my story, well not entirely. When I was a young kid I can remember seeing pictures of Emmet Till in his casket and could not for the life of me understand how his mother allowed her son to be viewed like that. I've grown and changed my stance on that issue. But let's get back to justice. History has shown that individuals who didn't appear to have a voice or any "so called" rights always cried out for Justice to be served whenever their, not civil, or human, but inalienable rights were infringed upon. For centuries those same cries have echoed and resonated throughtout galaxies and universe throughout the Solar system unanswered because those who are impoverished, disenfranchised, and have darker hue skins containing mass amounts of melanin are still looking for this ghost to appear.
It has become a practice to provide protection upon things and or people that have value and if there is so type of infraction then those who violate will penalized to the fullest exent of the law. For a lot of us justice is the not the entity that "prides itself on moral rightness." No justice is the dark cloak reaper who moves across the face of the earth with a hood and a face that has never been seen to bring more and more pain, misery and suffering to anyone that crosses it's path. Was justice served when Michael Stewart was killed in a NYC transit station for tagging or spray painting graffiti on the wall. Was Amadou Diallo given justice when he was gunned down for reaching for a wallet to show ID he was asked to produce. If justice is the scale that the moralilty, law, natural law, and fairness is placed upon then explain to me why is it so evasive and why won't it show it's face to us?
The holders and makers of the law are quick to tell us just how right and fair this system is but the "Standard Business Procedures" that these laws are encased in speak to the contrary. Now, I'm not going to bore you with loads of statistics and cases to coroborate my position. No, I'm speaking strictly from a moral principal that has us living in a country that has a constitution and a set of laws that were written for a select group of people and we wonder we protection isn't given. Why the phrase "fair trial" is like going to a vegetarian restaurant and asking for a hamburger. It's ludicrous.
And today is no exception. Most of us know about the Oscar Grant trial and were outrage by the outcome of the sentencing, however when you look at from the reverse angle you will see that according the morals and ethics of those who wield the power justice was served. See when you stand in front of a person or people who don't see you or value you as a human being then it makes it easy to discard you and your existence. The police officer is valuable to those in power because they would rather slap one of their "overseerers" on the writst for doing what they told him to do in the first place, then to give justice to the family of the man he is charged with seeing over.
Yes, I'm talking about slavery, but from a different perspective, however the way punishment is metted out hasn't changed much. So, if you're expecting justice to become courageous and show his face to you, forget it. However rest assure that if it is deemed that you have fallen outside of his "moral rightness" then his face will no longer be an issue, but his wrath, well that's a whole other story. In the end the sad part in all of this is we keep getting shown that all we have is JUST US and we still won't come together. Rest In Power Oscar Grant.
"when you look at from the reverse angle you will see that according the morals and ethics of those who wield the power justice was served. "
ReplyDeleteExactly..
Very thought provoking words! Some of us believe that justice is black and white but you have truly shown why we should only expect it to be BLACK.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!