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Letter from Birmingham Jail
... King's letter, written while he was imprisoned for engaging in nonviolent antisegregation rallies, is a powerful expression of civil disobedience and moral responsibility. It appeals to his readers' conscience, asking them to confront their society's moral flaws and speak out against injustice (King, 1963). ...
... Socrates' justification is based on his dedication to truth-telling and his opinion that an unexamined life is not worth living (Plato 399 BC). This philosophical perspective is consistent with King's fight for civil rights, in which he contends that unjust laws must be challenged based on one's moral conscience (King, 1963). The thematic relationship between the two books is their common concept of The historical circumstances of these works are critical for understanding their influence. ...
... King's rhetorical method is both meticulous and comprehensive, combining logical argumentation, emotional appeals, and ethical reasoning to make his case. He begins by establishing his credibility and moral authority, explaining his presence in Birmingham by stating, "I am in Birmingham 94 because injustice is here" (King, 1963). This direct statement not only addresses the question of why he chose to engage in the civil rights struggle in that specific location but also underscores the universality of the fight against injustice. ...
This article examines the enduring relevance of Socrates' "Apology" and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," highlighting their shared commitment to justice and ethical integrity despite the vast differences in their historical and socio-political contexts. Both texts employ powerful rhetorical strategies to advocate for truth and moral righteousness, challenging deeply ingrained societal injustices. Socrates, through his dialectical method, exposes the inconsistencies in his accusers' arguments, encouraging critical self-examination, while King, through logical reasoning and emotional appeals, compels his audience to confront the moral failings of their society. The thematic connections between the two works, particularly their emphasis on truth, moral integrity, and the courage to challenge unjust laws, underscore their timeless significance in the discourse on moral philosophy and social justice. By situating their arguments within broader ethical and intellectual traditions, both Socrates and King provide timeless models of ethical leadership and moral courage. Their works continue to resonate, offering profound insights into the ongoing struggle for a more just and equitable world, making their messages relevant for contemporary movements against injustice and oppression.
... These issues are pulled into the utopian system, assessed from the perspective of the ontological utopia and then returned to where they originated from. One very clear example of this ongoing interaction is Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail (King 1963). One of the defining documents of the civil rights era, the letter was about justifying civil disobedience as a method of fighting against racist laws. ...
... When it comes to "Utopian texts", all religions have "texts" about some paradisial period, whether in the past or the future. 5 "To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law" (King 1963). 6 See, for example, Sargent, who on the one side defines a utopia as "a non-existent society described in considerable detail" (Sargent 1994, p. 8) and then goes on to describe Eden and the apocalypse from Revelation as eutopias (pp. ...
This paper intends to make an important contribution to the studies of religious utopianism by considering religions as comprehensive utopian systems which have an ontological and a social utopian mode. It argues that the ontological mode/utopia is related to human finality and that its fantastical content, abstractness and ontological Othering undermine the transformative powers of left religious social utopianism, while it encourages pernicious social Othering in religious fundamentalism. The article has four sections. In Section 1, it clarifies the definition of utopia on which the paper relies and the reasons for this particular choice. Section 2 discusses the religious ontological utopia and religions as utopian systems and utopian programs. Section 3 utilises E. Bloch’s considerations about concrete and abstract utopias to explain the reasons for the incapacity of politically left orientated religious utopianism to function as a revolutionary force. Finally, the Section 4 discusses the way religious fundamentalism employs social Othering as a way of defending the universality of its ontological vision against competing religious and pseudo-religious universals.
... In week two of the semester, two documents are introduced, "A Letter from the Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [13] and the "Letter from the Eight Clergymen" [14] which are referred to as the "letters" from this point forward. The "letters" are used as a pedagogical tool to help students understand social policy in a "real world," concrete context. ...
Teaching social welfare policy to undergraduate students can be challenging, especially when students are not excited about the subject matter or express discontent for the course. Instructors may struggle with creating assignments that are engaging and informative. Students report not having a solid policy foundation or not being prepared to incorporate policy practice skills outside of the classroom. This case report discusses the use of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (1984) to teach social welfare policy. Students gain the ability to share real world experiences with each other and to identify common areas of interest. Robust classroom discussions afford students an opportunity to understand concepts and ideas while good debates provide an option to showcase knowledge and demonstrate critical thinking skills. These teaching methods take into consideration the needs of the diverse learners and allow the instructor the flexibility to incorporate different teaching methods to address the learning styles of all students. In recognition of the student’s aptitude and limited policy experiences, the content of the policy course should focus on students developing beginning policy practice skills.
... Emotions, such as those that respond to an injustice, can also be thick -that is, they contain evaluative judgements, and tend to be rich in detail and tone (see King 2007). Similar to thick concepts, thick emotions bind together judgments, affect, dominant metaphors, scripts, and desires (Solomon 1977a). ...
Legal reasoning in the common law tradition requires judges to draw on concepts, and examples that are meant to resonate with a particular emotional import and operate in judicial reasoning as though they do. Judicial applications of constitutional rights are regularly interpreted by reference to past violations (either through precedent, contextual framings, and/or legislative history), which in turn elicit a series of emotions which work to deepen and intensify judicial understandings of a right guarantee (freedom of association, freedom of expression, equality, security of the person, etc.). This paper examines the way in which invocations of past political histories, and rights abuses (however ill or well-defined), work to conjure up a set of service emotions (emotions which work to establish a particular frame of mind), which guide judicial applications of doctrine in cases concerning an alleged violation of a constitutional right.
... Combating moral distress in the carceral rotation is an active, daily engagement. Martin Luther King Jr., noted, "like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience" [5]. Teachers in carceral settings must be proactive in exposing injustice and dehumanization to avoid internalization of negative or biased attitudes by learners. ...
... The Zohar's rich portrait of Solomon's imaginative efforts to conceive of the "inescapable network of mutuality" (King 1963) could serve, I believe, as the "kernel" of the reader's own contemplative practice (Christie 2013). This depiction of the garden as the place in which the knowledge of God and of the world grows, expanding upon both vertical and horizontal axes, also provides an interesting premodern correlate to the "rhizomatic" theory of knowledge described by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari (Deleuze and Guattari 2003). ...
The contemporary American university largely operates as an agent of domestication, tasked more with enforcing the social and economic order than with expanding the horizons of possibility. The dawn of the Anthropocene, however, demands that we reconceive of the humanities not as self-sufficient, hierarchical, or divided away from other modes of seeking knowledge but as core to what human being and responsibility ought to mean in the more-than-human world. The present essay makes a case for reworking—and rethinking—the American university along the lines of Mark C. Taylor’s prompt to reconceive of the academy as a multidisciplinary forum for the “comparative analysis of common problems”. I suggest that religious teachings—and religious traditions themselves—can offer models for the intertwining of the humanities (literature, poetry, philosophy, the expressive and applied arts), the social sciences (the study of governance, political thought, the study and formulation of law), and the natural sciences as well as mathematics and engineering. Further, I argue that when faced with radical and unprecedented changes in technological, social, economic, and environmental structures, we must, I believe, engage with these traditional texts in order to enrich and critique the liberal mindset that has neither the values nor the vocabulary to deal with the climate crisis. We must begin to sow new and expansive ways of thinking, and I am calling this work the “rewilding” of our universities. Parallel to the three Cs of rewilding as a conservation paradigm, I suggest the following three core principles for the rewilding of higher education: creativity, curriculum, and collaboration. Though I focus on the interface of religion, ecology, and the study of the environmental, social, and moral challenges of climate change, I suggest that these categories of activity should impact all domains of inquiry to which a university is home.
... Her work emphasizes not just the direct aid to individuals but also the need for broader societal changes to address the root causes of social problems (Richmond, 1917). Effective social action often involves clear goal setting and community mobilization, as seen in historical movements like the Civil Rights Movement (King, 1963). Direct action, such as Gandhi's Salt March, exemplifies the use of dramatic measures to challenge injustice (Gandhi, 1948). ...
This article presents the social action models and movements of Mahatma Gandhi during the independence struggle movement. This article prepared based on the secondary data available in research papers and books. The researchers reviewed research studies/papers to understand the social action models and movements of Mahatma Gandhi. As we know Social action is a planned activity or movement which organised to bring the change among the views or decisions of policy makers. There are many leaders applied their models to bring the change in the views of policy makers. Britto given two major models of social action i.e. elitist model of social action and popular models of social action. Mahatma Gandhi models of social action are very relevant to the India in those days. Mahatma Gandhi's approach to social action was rooted in the principles of nonviolence (Ahimsa), truth (Satya), and inclusivity. He believed in achieving social and political change through peaceful means, mass mobilization, and grassroots engagement. Gandhi's methods, such as civil disobedience and the promotion of self-reliance (Swadeshi), aimed to empower marginalized communities and challenge unjust systems without resorting to violence. His emphasis on moral integrity, ethical leadership, and unity in diversity made his movements effective and enduring. Gandhi's legacy continues to inspire social activists worldwide, demonstrating that sustained, nonviolent action can bring about profound and lasting change. The social action models
... The educational philosopher Paulo Freire (n.d.) makes a related pedagogical point: "As long as the oppressed remain unaware of the causes of their own condition, they fatalistically accept their own exploitation." Martin Luther King (1963) has also touched on this relationship between those with power and those without, stating that "freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." Education requires that we not only learn and teach what human rights are but also provide knowledge and the means to learn and understand the systems that contribute to oppression, along with providing spaces that allow remedy or access to human rights. ...
... I often give examples of when students might be required to do so in the "real world" that are applicable for a variety of majors and might include convincing one's boss to decide upon a certain option, requesting needed equipment or personnel, or motivating coworkers or subordinates to undertake a task. I demonstrate the persuasive purpose of course readings such as "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (King, 1963), a real-life example of attempting to influence others' beliefs and actions. Students read and compose writing assignments using skills that will be relevant and beneficial to them in the future. ...
General education and business major courses often follow parallel paths with little intersection or appreciation of the other. Students benefit, however, by seeing key themes and skills linked to both general education and specialized disciplinary courses. Giving specific attention to Christian institutions, this paper argues for more intentional connections between these two parts of the curriculum, highlighting their common ideals of shared learning, shared connections as human beings, practical skills, institutional distinctiveness, and integration. One strategy to overcome the bifurcation of general education and business curricula has been to ground institutional distinctives within a core course experience, which can then be called to mind in subsequent courses. A core course for first-year students is especially effective for Christian institutions due to the significance of the themes typically introduced in such a course. Although educators have called for building connections between general education and specialized disciplines, very little scholarship has addressed business disciplines specifically or provided models of successful implementation. The present article provides a detailed example of how one Christian institution’s core course can engage and benefit students by highlighting connections to organizational and career themes. The article then demonstrates concrete ways important core course themes can be intentionally reinforced within the business curriculum. General suggestions for implementation are also provided.
What is the relationship among Blackness, whiteness, and laughter? For Ralph Ellison, race is at the heart of “the American joke”; his phrase suggests that humor is somehow fundamental to the American story. It is certainly fundamental to his novel, Invisible Man (1952). While much scholarship has addressed the novel’s humor—how it makes readers laugh—the laughter of characters has been underexplored. From start to finish, the narrative is punctuated with scenes of laughter, which crop up at every major turning point in the unnamed narrator’s journey. While he encounters laughter that is racist and belittling, he also reckons with its creative, communal forms. By tracing his journey through the trope of laughter and placing the novel in conversation with theories of Black humor, this essay reveals how the laugh operates as a strategy of defense and defiance, at once protective and resistant. Like the mask of meekness, exemplified by the narrator’s grandfather, Black laughter is a technique for navigating the tensions and threats of American life. It can cloak aggression and ease white fears, but it communicates more ambiguously than the mask, leaving observers in a state of uncertainty. The novel suggests that Black laughter flirts with power in a way that unsettles white consciousness and expands the mask’s terrain of resistance. Zeroing in on laughter itself reveals its role in day-to-day navigations of the color line while also adding nuance to more general theories of humor.
Globalization unavoidably propels migration which has been and will continue to claim the lives of most Africans in an attempt to scout for greener pastures in foreign lands. This thereby causes security challenges to both African immigrants and the receiving nations or host countries. Thus, presenting “Africanness” and “self-reliance” (philosophy of do-it-yourself) as our anchor arguments, we argue that Africans in the diaspora can manage racial crisis by redefining their identities, and Africa can actualize autonomy and greatness if and only if African nations can effectively utilize her available natural and human resources.
Provider assisted death is becoming a leading cause of death in Canada since the passage of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) legislation in 2016. What was to be exceptional has now become common; some are calling for it to be expected. Increasing numbers of patients with chronic, non-terminal conditions are being euthanized. Healthcare personnel are now approving and offering MAiD to vulnerable patients who are depressed, disabled, chronically ill or impoverished. This paper presents a rationale from a transcendent moral law perspective, traditionally called natural law, for why Canada now has the most liberal euthanasia regime in the world. The act of euthanasia requires the provider to willfully end the life of the patient by administering a lethal substance. This violates the transcendent moral law, do not kill. Once a culture willfully rejects this fundamental law and embraces a utilitarian ethic devoid of any principle except the notion of autonomy, it is inevitable that the practice will lead to ethical ambiguity and uncertainty. As the practice persists and becomes the norm, moral blindness develops which leads to gross abuses to human beings. I present an ethical diagram, the Moral Dissociation Curve, that depicts the reason for the trends unfolding in Canada. The Canadian healthcare system must re-affirm the principles of the Hippocratic Ethic and the inherent dignity of their patients. Those in healthcare need to prioritize high quality, compassionate, palliative care and say “no” to willfully ending the lives of suffering patients. In so doing, moral clarity will be re-gained, and society’s most vulnerable will be protected.
The G20 Rio de Janeiro Leaders’ Declaration, adopted during the summit on November 18-19, 2024, focuses on global challenges and sustainable development. It underscores priorities such as reducing inequality, eradicating hunger and poverty, addressing climate change, and reforming global governance. The declaration includes the establishment of initiatives like the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, a task force for
climate mobilization, and efforts to enhance global governance. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to
inclusive, sustainable economic growth while emphasizing the need to address intergenerational inequalities.
Discussions also covered measures for universal health systems, pandemic preparedness, equitable access to healthcare, and strengthening the role of international organizations like the WHO in health governance. Climate
action and energy transitions were highlighted as key for a sustainable future the Leaders of the G20, met in Rio de Janeiro to address major global challenges and crises and promote strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth. We gather in the birthplace of the Sustainable Development Agenda to reaffirm our commitment to building a just world and a sustainable planet, while leaving no one behind. The 2024 G20 Rio de Janeiro summit (Portuguese: Cúpula do G20 Rio de Janeiro 2024) was the nineteenth meeting of Group of Twenty (G20), a Heads of State and Government meeting held at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro from 18 19 November 2024. It was the first G20 summit to be hosted in Brazil
This study conducted a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess governments’ efficiency in promoting the social conflict management necessary to develop and maintain a state, the human rights of its citizens, and the common prosperity of humanity. We conducted a two-stage DEA, given the multifaceted nature of conflict and conflict resolution. This method facilitates the analysis of the relationship between government policies and social conflicts by separating the exploration of inputs and outputs into two stages. The efficiency values derived from each stage of the DEA were used in the cluster analysis, and the characteristics of efficiency scores across countries were used to exhaustively measure the conflict management capabilities of these nations. The DEA findings indicated that the average social stability efficiency, average social equity efficiency, and average overall social conflict management efficiency of the 53 Country Policy and Institutional Assessments countries examined were 0.8671, 0.9152, and 0.8036, respectively. On these bases, the core policy contribution of this research is the provision of a methodology for segmenting developing countries worldwide and targeting strategies for the future direction of the conflict management policies enacted by international organizations and governments.
In this essay, I use Martin Luther King Jr.'s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to open questions about international order and disorder. The idea of order is central to modern discourse on international politics, but the concept is often ill defined and ambiguous. King's ideas clarify three issues: First, is order understood as an objective condition of a system or a political judgment about its suitability for social life? Second, does compliance with law lead naturally to order? And third, is order always preferable to disorder? The way King answers each question is somewhat different than the conventional wisdom in international relations. IR scholars typically assume that international order is a universal good and that compliance with law enhances it. King highlights the gap between order as defined by the authorities in Alabama and his own lived experience. I use the difference to map the terrain of scholarship on international order and disorder and to draw implications for concepts, research methods, and political judgment.
What should judges do when faced with immoral laws? Should they apply them without exception, since “the law is the law?” Or can exceptions be made for grossly immoral laws, such as historically, Nazi law? Surveying laypeople ( N = 167) and people with some legal training ( N = 141) on these matters, we find a surprisingly strong, monotonic relationship between people's subjective moral evaluation of laws and their judgments that these laws should be applied in concrete cases. This tendency is most pronounced among individuals who endorse natural law (i.e., the legal‐philosophical view that immoral laws are not valid laws at all), and is attenuated when disagreement about the moral status of a law is considered reasonable. The relationship is equally strong for laypeople and for those with legal training. We situate our findings within the broader context of morality's influence on legal reasoning that experimental jurisprudence has uncovered in recent years, and consider normative implications.
This paper proposes letter writing as a method to elicit visions of liberation and identify everyday acts of resistance that breathe life into these visions. By creating a liberatory space for the letter writer to reflect on the past and envision a socially just world, letter writing becomes a time-traveling method. To illustrate an example of the use of this method, the paper shares results from a study that used letter writing to explore the relationship between freedom dreams and everyday resistance. The participants were nineteen Latina women who were each instructed to write a letter to a loved one about their desires for social change and their daily efforts to achieve those visions. One of the major themes identified was that women in the study were engaging in a daily pedagogy of resistance to (re)connect their children to roots-that is, histories of oppression, their cultural heritage, and the Earth, in order to create a more socially just world. We conclude by suggesting that letter writing offers seeds of possibility to articulate new ways to breathe outside of the logic of racial capitalist settler coloniality.
This research paper analyses the implementation and impact of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, in Odisha, India. The RTI Act, a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, seeks to promote transparency, accountability, and good governance by empowering citizens to access information held by public authorities. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, analysing responses from Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities, and RTI applicants through surveys and interviews. It explores the historical and constitutional foundations of the RTI Act, highlighting its role in upholding democratic principles. Findings reveal the RTI Act's crucial role in curbing corruption, improving service delivery, and empowering citizens. However, implementation challenges persist, including delays, denials, and lack of awareness. The research provides a comparative analysis of RTI implementation across government departments in Odisha, uncovering variations in compliance, response time, and information quality. Additionally, the study examines the role of appellate authorities in safeguarding the RTI Act's principles and ensuring timely redressal. It analyses the impact of judicial pronouncements on strengthening implementation and protecting the constitutional right to information. Based on the research findings, recommendations are offered to enhance the RTI Act's effectiveness. These include capacity building for PIOs, streamlined processes, proactive disclosure, and widespread awareness campaigns. The study also emphasizes the need for continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure the Act's effective implementation and uphold the constitutional guarantee of the right to information. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive assessment of the RTI Act's implementation and impact in Odisha, while emphasizing its constitutional significance. The insights and recommendations presented can inform policymakers, practitioners, and civil society organizations working towards strengthening transparency, accountability, and good governance in India.
This article traces the concept of time in Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley.
Religion plays a crucial role in the peace building process of a nation. It is often seen as a source of moral guidance, providing individuals with a sense of purpose and direction. In addition, religion can serve as a unifying force, bringing people from diverse backgrounds together for a common cause. Furthermore, religious leaders and institutions have the ability to influence political and social structures, making them valuable actors in the peace building process. They can use their platform to promote peace and reconciliation, and to address underlying causes of conflict. Moreover, religion can offer a sense of hope and comfort to those affected by conflict, providing them with the resilience and strength to move forward. It can also serve as a tool for healing and forgiveness, as many religious teachings prioritize forgiveness and reconciliation. However, religion can also be a source of division and conflict in some cases. Different interpretations and practices among different religious groups can lead to tensions and further exacerbate existing conflicts. In conclusion, the role of religion in the peace building process is complex and multifaceted. It has the potential to both promote and hinder peace, depending on how it is utilized. A thorough understanding of the religious landscape and careful consideration of its impact is necessary for effective peace building efforts in any nation.
The urgency and complexity of contemporary social justice issues facing the world today mean that activists, scholars, and storytellers need a readily available compendium of cutting-edge scholarship on media and social justice. This handbook represents the collective wisdom of more than 40 leading voices across positionalities and perspectives, geographies and generations, meta-theories and methods, and issues and identities. Each of the 32 chapters presents a state-of-the-art systematic overview of a brief history, key concepts, contemporary debates and dialogues, and future directions. The book begins with introductory remarks on perspectives, positionalities, and paradigms. The section on approaches and analytical frameworks examines classic and contemporary media theories related to social justice such as political economy, critical cultural studies, reception studies, and framing analyses. The next section on methods and meaning-making reviews methodological tools such as quantitative criticalism, media ethnography, and critical discourse analysis for media justice researchers. These theories and methods are then applied to specific intersectional identities, contemporary social issues, and communities worldwide in the next section: “Resistance and Revisioning. The book concludes with reflections on resistances, reckoning, and reparative justice.
Employing qualitative Descriptive Case Study Methodology (which addresses the “why?” question), this paper analyzes Cornel West’s conceptualization of Africa and the lessons that can be learned from it to help build a new Africa. In a soaring but often poetic voice, West challenges Blacks and all oppressed people to resist the policies of economic imperialism and exploitation, to fight against forces of greed and the negative impact of commodification, and to stand for social justice just like our forbearers before us. He contends that in this age of venality when everything and everybody is for sale, Black people need to have a Sankofa sensibility drawn from the Akan in Ghana that celebrates the quest for wisdom. He further cautions that the lessons and knowledge of the past should never be forgotten and that we should always look back at what came before in order to produce better outcomes for equality and justice. The central focus of West’s critical thought or mission is the pursuit of social justice. This is articulated through his doctrine of prophetic pragmatism. In his public engagement, West vigorously advocates for the dispossessed, exploited, and demoralized individuals in capitalist societies. The burning maladies West wishes to address in the Black communities include the sense of hopelessness, chronic unemployment, disease, and premature or untimely deaths. West believes that these ills suffered by Black communities are the direct result of human actions executed through the institutions of power and control in society. The actions that produce these ills are fomented by covetous individualism. According to West, it is these actions that give rise to social injustice.
The rate of involvement of supposedly men of God in crime across the world and particularly in Nigeria has become a matter of serious concern for many people. For one thing, it calls to question the sanctity of the pulpit and for another, the relevance and perhaps the need for religion in human society. Stories of the involvement of "men of God" in all sorts of crime make headlines in local and international newspapers and magazines. A good number of these "priests and ministers of God" surprisingly confessed to committing those crimes. Some of the crimes were also committed within the premises of the "House of God". This paper therefore, seeks to find explanations for this phenomenon on the one hand, and on the other offer recommendations on how to minimize it, and if possible, halt it. This is with a view to giving religion and its advocates the honour they deserve in human society. The paper adopted the analytical approach. It is divided into seven parts. Part one which is the introduction opened the paper. This is followed by part two which gave the meaning of crime, the nature of criminals and punishments to be given for crimes. Part three presented the perspectives of Christianity and Islam on the concept of crime. In part four, an account of some criminal cases involving Christian and Muslim clerics in Nigeria was given. This is closely followed by a critical analysis of the crimes involved in by men of God, finding reasons for the phenomenon. In section six, ways of curtaining the scourge were suggested while the last section drew the conclusion.
Martin King and Malcom X having different views towards prevalent social injustices in the USA, fought for the liberation of the African American community. Martin King being a Christian pastor clearly highlighted materialism, militarization and racism as three major sins of America. Malcom disregarded slavery which was created by America which has not paid the prize. Both saw the structural violence of the US, particularly targeting the African American community. Martin upheld integrationism, and Malcolm professed separation from white church and white God. Aftermoving away from Nation of Islam, Malcolm developed a broader sense of humanity and black nationalism. Both strongly believed that the oppressor will never give up power voluntarily, hence, it is vital to build the power of the oppressed.
The American Psychological Association’s resolutions on dismantling systemic racism represent a watershed moment in our discipline, yet confusion remains as to what it means to “dismantle” racism given psychology’s emphasis on changing individual beliefs. This submission will review the tension between “idealist” interpretations of critical race theory emphasizing individual beliefs and “realist” perspectives contextualizing racism within political economic arrangements. Psychology’s adoption of an “idealist” framework will be shown to privilege a neoliberal project emphasizing individual change and symbolic performances of racial justice instead of structural changes benefitting people of color’s material existence. Drawing on a decolonial critique of racial capitalism, we propose an alternative framework to challenge our discipline to broaden its political imagination by supporting evidence-based policies to dismantle racism as a structural and political force. This includes universal policies to reduce racial and economic inequality and population-specific policies such as reparations for African Americans predicted to stimulate economic growth. Urgently, the decolonial lens challenges psychology to theorize racism not as a primarily individual phenomenon but a political force that divides and conquers while enriching white economic elites. To fulfill the promises of the American Psychological Association’s resolutions, we must directly challenge the political economic interests that benefit from racism and contribute to the common good as a form of “loving care.”
Situating a poetry performance as a form of autoperformance, I analyze the first National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, Amanda Gorman’s 2021 Presidential inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb, to discuss the poet’s subjectivity as a young Black woman who invites her audience to be active agents for social change and pursuers of positive peace. I position Gorman’s poem as a narrative, containing life-giving ideologies including Afrocentricity, Black Feminist Thought/Black Feminist Rhetoric, and Coalition Building, cap- able of calling her audience into being the protagonists to bring about a liberatory future that recognizes their individual agency as Americans.
This chapter introduces the approach of the book How to Think Ethically about Global Issues, using Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s account of the danger of a single story. Single stories can be stereotypes, oversimplifications, assumptions, one-dimensional thinking, or one-sided ideologies that prevent us from seeing people or issues in all their rich, complicated reality. This chapter argues that moving beyond such single stories is the essential first step in thinking ethically about global issues. This step is key since global ethics isn’t about figuring out the one right theory, nor making moral judgments about people elsewhere. Instead, global ethics is about working together to create a more just and humane world. This requires going beyond single stories to recognize the humanity and agency of people elsewhere, so that we can listen to, learn from, and partner with them.
Businesses often attempt to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by showcasing women in their leadership ranks, most of whom are white. Yet research has shown that organizations confer status and power to women who engage in sexist behavior, which undermines DEI efforts. We sought to examine whether women who engage in racist behavior are also conferred relative status at work. Drawing on theory and research on organizational culture and intersectionality, we predicted that a white woman who expresses anti-Black racism is conferred more status in the workplace than a white woman who does not. A pilot study (N = 30) confirmed that making an anti-Black racist comment at work was judged to be more offensive than making no comment, but only for a white man, not a white woman. Study 1 (N = 330) found that a white woman who made an anti-Black racist comment at work was conferred higher status than a white woman who did not, whereas the opposite held true for a white man, with perceived offensiveness mediating these effects. Study 2 (N = 235) revealed that a white woman who made an anti-racist/pro-Black Lives Matter comment was conferred lower status than a white woman who did not, whereas the opposite held true for a white man. Finally, Study 3 (N = 295) showed that people who endorse racist and sexist beliefs confer more status to a white man than to a white woman regardless of speech, but that people low in racism and sexism confer the highest status to a white woman who engages in anti-Black racist speech. These studies suggest that white women are rewarded for expressing support for beliefs that mirror systemic inequality in the corporate world. We discuss implications for business ethics and directions for future research.
Cities old and new would benefit if they embraced a perspective distinct from the dominant thought regarding efforts to reinvent or contemporize themselves through urban renewal projects, specifically those related to social inclusion. Realism, as contrary to pragmatism, has been shown to impose a complacent attitude toward vulnerable urban communities through its attachments to predeterminacy. This paper analyzes the detrimental effects of a realist worldview on marginalized populations facing displacement as a result of these projects, and takes a Rortyan approach at delineating the implications of realist policy approaches in cities like Los Angeles, California, Detroit, Michigan, and Birmingham, England. The paper then turns to critique movements like ‘Detroit vs Everybody’ and Richard Florida’s model in The Rise of the Creative Class as an effort to endorse a reconceptualization of policies in which elites relinquish their realist attachments in favor of outcome driven, pragmatic solutions that will, in turn, relieve these marginalized groups of the infringement imposed upon them.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement agents in 2020 and the racial tensions that followed it have again reignited the contentious debate about racism and society’s inability to find an enduring solution. This article is a novel effort to situate the debate in an interreligious context and contribute meaningfully to the search for a solution. Drawing from the Joseph and Potiphar’s wife story in Genesis 39 and Surah 12 of the holy Qur’an, the article shows the intersections of this patriarchal material with the axes of identity and marginality. Drawing from the multiple junctures of this intersectionality that include race, ethnicity, identity, and microaggressions, the article identifies in the scriptural texts seven resonances of contemporary racism that are often ignored or poorly understood in race discourse. Taking into consideration some meaningful solutions suggested by legal luminaries and behavioral scientists in their respective fields, the article augments these with a religious solution, pointing in the direction of a true penitential spirit, like the one demonstrated by Potiphar’s wife in the Qur’an. The suggestion is that a genuine turnaround (conversion) is also in the spirit of the ecclesial repentance that was practiced in the early church before some medieval abuses crept in. The article concludes that human agencies aside, ultimately it is God’s ability to bring good out of evil, the way God did with Joseph, that can bring an enduring solution to victims of racism.
Kemp proposes a “3Ds of Blackness” theory, arguing that White supremacists have racialized the Genesis 4:15 “mark of Cain” to label Black bodies as dangerous, deviant, and depraved. This article offers Levitical and Black perspectives, extending Kemp’s scholarship and societal markings to include “diseased.” Exploring ancient biblical binaries of pollution/cleanness, profaneness/sanctity, defilement/purity, and comparing COVID-19 and its treatment mechanisms to skin diseases in Mosaic law, this article claims that structural racist modalities in the United States today treat Black skin as leprous and use justificatory devices to further this end through mass incarceration, poverty, healthcare, and education to keep Blacks “outside the camp.” Despite the quotidian of the relentless ferocity of these active forces, Blacks can historically and existentially claim the continuum of God’s “deliverance” as a “D” marked upon the diverse melanin-kissed shades of their skin.
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