Justice Is Not For Sale

Oscar B. Johannsen

[Reprinted from The Gargoyle, June 1969]

The campus riots have presented an amazing spectacle o£ the lack of clear thinking not only on the part of many students but on the part of many of the faculties and administrations of our colleges and universities.

The students have some excuse. They are in school not only to acquire knowledge but presumably to learn some of the rudiments of clear thinking. The faculties and college administrations are presumed to have attained at least a measure of it. But in copying with the situation which now confronts them the impression one receives is that the colleges simply do not have any clear idea of what to do.

To put it mildly, the academicians have given themselves a black eye. They have never been loathe to come up with answers to every problem. They have blithely advised businessmen how to run their companies, labor leaders how to run their unions, and politicians and bureaucrats how to run the government. Yet, when it comes to running their own bailiwick, they have demonstrated, with but few exceptions, no better ability than the businessmen, the labor leaders, or the politicians they have so freely criticized. If that was the extent of it, it could be passed off with the excuse that after all, they are human, no better or worse than any of us, so why should they be expected to do a better job than anyone else.

But the point is that they have done worse. They have caved in to the demands of minority groups at the expense of the rights of others. This is not to say that businessmen have not caved in to the demands of labor leaders and been a party to the violation of the rights of their employees, as agreeing to compulsory unionism. But this usually was because the government stood behind the unions and practically forced the businessmen to give in.

But such has not been the case with the colleges. On the contrary, the local and state governments have been ready to step in to back up the faculties. But, in the main, the colleges have not called upon such aid unless conditions reached a point where they had no alternative. Instead, they have often bartered away the rights of a majority of the students in order to secure a temporary peace.

The excuse often given is that in the past the rights of minority groups have been violated. But the fact that this may be true is no excuse for perpetrating injustice on any groups today. If any injustice exists, it should be corrected. But, you can never make up for past injustices by creating new ones on other groups now.

Since so many colleges have succumbed so supinely, naturally the idea of achieving gains by this appeal to past injustices has spread. How, minority groups demand reparations from churches and synagogues for injustices done to members of their groups for generations. Certainly, any injustice which occurred 100 years ago is regrettable. But, we of this generation are not responsible for the sins of our fathers.

We have enough sins of our own, such as permitting the private appropriation of ground rent. This gross injustice exists today and should be abolished. Parenthetically, if any group should be demanding reparations, it is the tenants of today. They should be calling upon the landlords to return to them the economic rent which really belongs to them, but which under our unjust system of land tenure winds up in the pockets of private landlords.

But just as you cannot unscramble eggs, you cannot simply ask for reparations of landlords. To begin with, most of us today are to some extent landlords and tenants. Every person owning a share of stock is to a degree a landlord for land represents an important part of the assets of almost all corporations. You cannot expect the injustice of landlordism to be solved simply by exacting reparations. It must be corrected in an orderly fashion by which the present system of land tenure is replaced by a just one.

Similarly, you cannot expect the churches now to correct injustices, past or present, by the simple expedient of reparations. If the churches are guilty of practicing any injustice today, they should stop forthwith.

It is perfectly understandable that people who find themselves discriminated against because of race, creed or color are resentful. But the cure is not reparations or favors at the expense of others. It is to try to get those perpetrating the injustice to cease. Unfortunately, this is a hard, long process. Violence and hate will never shorten the time in correcting the injustice. On the contrary, it will probably only harden and intensify the injustice.

Firmness in standing up for one's rights must be coupled with a sincere desire to correct any injustices with a recognition of man's fallibility. If one will do so, while nothing can be guaranteed, the probability is great that the injustice will be removed much more rapidly and with less disturbance than if one attempts to eliminate injustice violently with little regard as to whom is hurt.

As for reparations, it should always be remembered that justice is not for sale.