Confusing Civil Disobedience (op-ed)
Right before the Baltimore riots Malik Zulu Shabazz told a crowd of demonstrators to shut the city down. (Malik Zulu Shabazz is former chairman of the New Black Panther Party and National President of Black Lawyers for justice.)
When cornered by the press, after the violence began, Shabazz claimed he called for civil disobedience not mass violence.
But what is civil disobedience?
In 1846 Henry David Thoreau believed the American war in Mexico was immoral, and he refused to pay taxes to a government that waged an unjust war. He was jailed. Afterwards he wrote: An Essay on Civil Disobedience. Thoreau stated if a law made an individual an agent of injustice then it was a principled action to break the law.
The strategy of the civil rights movement was civil disobedience. Segregation was immoral and it was an act of principle to break segregation laws.
Now Shabazz went to Baltimore to protest police brutality. Police brutality is a violation by an officer (or group of officers), but police brutality is not the official policy of the police department. People rallied in Baltimore to protest the actions of a group of officers that led to a man’s death not to engage in civil disobedience. So when Shabazz said he called for civil disobedience what immoral policy or law was he asking demonstrators to break as a conscience act against injustice? The laws broken in Baltimore made the perpetrators lawbreakers and the police agents of law and order.
Recently in Ferguson, Mo. it was the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death and a state of emergency was declared following a day billed as a national day of civil disobedience. Protesters blocked traffic, the entrance to the federal court house, and a man was shot by the police. More than 140 people were arrested over several days of protest and among the arrested was scholar and civil rights activist Cornel West.
After his arrest West was interviewed on television. West stated he went to Ferguson to get arrested. (He was among the group blocking the entrance to the federal court house calling for the US government to end racist law enforcement practices.) West said he was a part of a collective fight back against the criminal justice system, the economic and educational system, and a political system that has been a failure. West went further and stated because of social neglect and economic abandonment there is a state of emergency and a sense of urgency when it comes to economic conditions. West concluded by stating congress doesn’t realize the depth of the emergency that’s why they will continue to go to jail and they will continue to put pressure on the government and the economy until justice is done.
Great.
But civil disobedience defies specific laws not a collage of social ills. How does one engage in civil disobedience against social neglect and economic abandonment? West participated in a civil disturbance in the tradition of civil disobedience and was arrested but his arrest doesn’t have the same impact. Why? West wasn’t charged with breaking an immoral law (Which brings attention to the immorality of the law) he was most likely charged with failure to comply with a lawful order or disorderly conduct and that doesn’t stand out as a principled act against a specific injustice.
Malik Zulu Shabazz called for civil unrest and told reporters he meant civil disobedience, but Shabazz wasn’t confused, he’s a lawyer, his comments were carefully articulated to confuse everyone else.
First Published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 8/19/15
When cornered by the press, after the violence began, Shabazz claimed he called for civil disobedience not mass violence.
But what is civil disobedience?
In 1846 Henry David Thoreau believed the American war in Mexico was immoral, and he refused to pay taxes to a government that waged an unjust war. He was jailed. Afterwards he wrote: An Essay on Civil Disobedience. Thoreau stated if a law made an individual an agent of injustice then it was a principled action to break the law.
The strategy of the civil rights movement was civil disobedience. Segregation was immoral and it was an act of principle to break segregation laws.
Now Shabazz went to Baltimore to protest police brutality. Police brutality is a violation by an officer (or group of officers), but police brutality is not the official policy of the police department. People rallied in Baltimore to protest the actions of a group of officers that led to a man’s death not to engage in civil disobedience. So when Shabazz said he called for civil disobedience what immoral policy or law was he asking demonstrators to break as a conscience act against injustice? The laws broken in Baltimore made the perpetrators lawbreakers and the police agents of law and order.
Recently in Ferguson, Mo. it was the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death and a state of emergency was declared following a day billed as a national day of civil disobedience. Protesters blocked traffic, the entrance to the federal court house, and a man was shot by the police. More than 140 people were arrested over several days of protest and among the arrested was scholar and civil rights activist Cornel West.
After his arrest West was interviewed on television. West stated he went to Ferguson to get arrested. (He was among the group blocking the entrance to the federal court house calling for the US government to end racist law enforcement practices.) West said he was a part of a collective fight back against the criminal justice system, the economic and educational system, and a political system that has been a failure. West went further and stated because of social neglect and economic abandonment there is a state of emergency and a sense of urgency when it comes to economic conditions. West concluded by stating congress doesn’t realize the depth of the emergency that’s why they will continue to go to jail and they will continue to put pressure on the government and the economy until justice is done.
Great.
But civil disobedience defies specific laws not a collage of social ills. How does one engage in civil disobedience against social neglect and economic abandonment? West participated in a civil disturbance in the tradition of civil disobedience and was arrested but his arrest doesn’t have the same impact. Why? West wasn’t charged with breaking an immoral law (Which brings attention to the immorality of the law) he was most likely charged with failure to comply with a lawful order or disorderly conduct and that doesn’t stand out as a principled act against a specific injustice.
Malik Zulu Shabazz called for civil unrest and told reporters he meant civil disobedience, but Shabazz wasn’t confused, he’s a lawyer, his comments were carefully articulated to confuse everyone else.
First Published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 8/19/15
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