Hensley, Johanna: Diversity

Law: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally

recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority

~Dictionary.com

 What makes a law worthy of obedience? In most cases, laws are generally observed without question, usually with good reason. Without laws and a government to make them, the world would be in shambles. People are typically self-absorbed creatures and quite challenging to govern. But what happens when laws are “unjust?” Are we to blindly assume that the government is all powerful and that, as the reigning authority, must be obeyed at all costs? Are we to stand up for our beliefs and therefore face ridicule, punishment, or (in some cases) death? What is respect for the law, and should “unjust” laws be respected? These are questions posed by the reading of Dr. King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” and “A Call to Unity”.

The first step to legal justice is to evaluate whether a law is truly unjust. To a college student, charging fifteen dollars for a pizza sure seems so. Maybe it is, but one must remember that justice nearly always depends on one’s point of view. To the CEO of Domino’s Pizza, fifteen dollars seems a fair price. To the White population of Birmingham, segregation, White dominance, and racial discrimination was “fair.” But when a law gives certain people priority at the expense of their fellow human beings, it needs to be reconsidered. This is where Dr. King and his followers hit a problem. The most obvious way to respect the law was to negotiate a change. This obviously wasn’t going to happen. I believe that Dr. King actually had the highest respect for the law, in that he was willing to peacefully suffer the consequences for breaking it. He understood that the only way to ensure change was for those in authority to recognize the problem, and that for them to recognize it, they must be faced with it. Mere negotiations wouldn’t cut it.

Dr. King certainly understood what it took to instigate lasting change in a legal environment. Of course, this approach would only work in a legitimate biased situation (we can’t do a sit-in at Domino’s and expect them to cut their pizza prices). Laws are meant to be followed; otherwise, total chaos would ensue. But on the rare occasion, one can stand up for what is right, provided that he/she is willing to suffer the consequences.