In Plato’s work, we see several different views from various characters attempting to define justice. My personal favorite is from Thrasymachus as he describes justice as the “advantage of the strongest.” This cynical view he presents may leave us with a bad taste in our mouths, but we can not disregard the fact that his argument holds weight to the debate and how we perceive justice. Societies use this power to to set guidelines for the people to determine what consequences result from certain actions. Whether that is truly “just” is another topic.
During this summer, a Memphis police officer, Sean Bolton, was shot during a traffic stop. Unfortunately, the shooter, Tremaine Wilbourn, happened to be African American, which only sparked more controversy revolving around the “black lives matter” movement. Personally, I was unaware of what happened until I arrived in the states and saw the massive funeral procession dedicated to this officer while on the highway.
The Director of the Memphis Police, Toney Armstrong, spoke out in response saying “all lives matter” not only black lives, giving a common response echoed by many people before him, concerning the “black lives matter” movement. However, the problem with this argument remains that while all lives matter, blacks lives have repeatedly found injustice in society, and many are outraged by the current conditions they face. Again and again, we see in the media reflect any criminal acts from the African American population towards the entire race. The “black lives matter” movement hopes for a radical change in not only the media but also in politics and in their everyday lives. In reality, this hope will not happen as fast as they want it to, and the slow working change will only spark more occurrences of injustice.
Socrates was known as “the wisest man” in Greece because he constantly looked for answers, knowing there was always more to learn. Although the debate over justice will always remain, the constant search to develop a more concrete image of justice is the reason we ask such questions. As we try to create a definition for justice, it ends up being not a matter of what is necessarily “just” but what definition will be the most beneficial for a community.
I applaud Theresa on making this connection. The modern American media machine is in some ways a great example of Thrasymachus' idea of justice. Despite the media's attempts to maintain an unbiased platform, without fail we see an inappropriate representation of people of color. When African American's riot due to the untimely death of a community member it is labeled as the an irresponsible and unforgivable destruction of property. When their White counterparts do the same because of a Super Bowl win it is labeled as kids being kids. Now, should either group be out destroying public property? To keep things simple we'll say no (although, it really depends on which team won). The fact of the matter is we see an alarming difference in how the media portrays the similar actions of the two groups. This goes back to Thrasymachus' belief about justice because there is power in the majority. While the inaccurate representation of African American's is unjust, it can only be resolved when those with power i.e. the majority and/or their elected officials deem it so.
ReplyDeleteYour proposition is true in the society in which we live. My mom is from Peru and is always astonished by the level of residue from the civil war. She says in Peru it is acceptable to say my black friend, my white mom, my Asian teacher, as a way of distinguishing people and not have to worry about the consequences of the word choice or to make sure you are saying things politically correct.
ReplyDeleteBeing brought up in the shadows of the civil war history through the learned stories from my daddy, I regret that America has not moved on for the most part.
I do agree with Toney Armstrong, all lives should be on the same playing field. My daddy was a dentist for 15 years and took this principle to heart in his practice. On one occasion, a football star from the local area was about to shoot a commercial and asked for his teeth to be whitened. My daddy had a tooth extraction or something similar scheduled the time the athlete had requested and my daddy kept the initial appointment scheduled for the average joe.
Giving preference for one person because of race, sex, or any other variable is not only unjust, but is unrealistic. It can make a company become inefficient in their choosing of potential resources, a person looking for a lifelong partner to pass by many great people, and make life a lot harder in general.
All lives should be treated equally, it is understandable to have preferences for familiar people such as professors, friends, and family, however in the day-to-day dealings with people, consistency should be a goal for which to strive.