lecture: Derrick Johnson

I took time out of my schedule this morning/afternoon to get a free lunch (always welcome, but not the point) and to hear from the keynote speaker of this year's Orrin G. Hatch Distinguished Trial Lawyer Lecture Series, Derrick Johnson. Mr. Johnson is currently the state president for the Mississippi State Conference NAACP, and his address was elecrifying for me. Some things that he emphasized were that with a law degree (and really, with anything in life that affords a step up), we can do good and do well--good by our neighbor, well for our families and country. Having a title is not enough, because we have to do something with it and keep our moral compass, lest people turn against people. There is a lot of screaming in the country, and not much hearing or civility. Civility is something that allowed great political discord to culminate in the Constitution and Bill of Rights--our country's founding fathers did not agree politically, but because of their mutual respect and the ability to work together, we have the framework that holds our country and our legal system together today.


As a leader in the NAACP, Mr. Johnson (understandably/expectedly) took a civil rights slant to his address, admonishing us to protect the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the law when people try to target any group, not just a group to which we belong. He cited Pastor Martin Niemoller's famous Holocaust-era statement in urging us to action:


First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
    because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
    because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
    because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
    because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
    and there was no one left to speak out for me


This strikes home to me. Many people are minorities in one way or another; I myself am a racial minority, being half-Chinese. I am a religious minority, as a member of the LDS church. I am a social minority, as a self-realized nerd. I am a minority in other ways as well. "They" may not be coming for me now, but that is no reason to forestall action. Indeed, it puts me in a position to do more. There are powerful forces in the country that fight against equalities that we have obtained and established already, and there are forces that work to prevent such progress from moving forward. Racism against the Latino population now is frighteningly similar to racism against African Americans during the Civil Rights era. Blacks were originally brought to this country as a form of cheap labor, never meant to be given citizenship rights. They did all the menial tasks no white people wanted to do, and were paid little for their work. They were viewed as less intelligent, less important, and even less human. Isn't that what we are doing to the Latino people today? Mexicans are viewed as cheap laborers, and "their jobs" are to be landscapers, maids, janitors, or construction workers. They are not expected to attend college or do graduate work. Brilliant minds like Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor are viewed as anomalous. Have we really learned so little from the battles our parents fought? Do we really have to go through this again? Are we due for race riots, city burnings, violent demonstrations, lynchings, or hate organizations? Or can we of the rising generation, we open-minded gatekeepers between anarchy and civility (to steal Mr. Johnson's words) capable of pressing forward and embracing change and growth with open arms?


Similar battles for rights and status are being fought on the sexual orientation front, but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.