The courageous few and the silent many

There is a scene in Howard Zinn’s book, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train”, where Zinn, a white man and his colleague, a black man are sharing a meal at a local diner. What makes this ordinary dining experience an extraordinary one, is its occurrence at a turning point in American history. The laws in the books had just changed, prohibiting businesses from discriminating on the basis of race. So here are these two friends, who by law just days prior were banned from eating together in public establishments now openly breaking bread with the support of the state.

The waiter who approaches their table incidentally happens to be a segregationist and is wearing a pin on her work uniform proudly declaring that stance. With this new law challenging what was by then one hundred years of social norms, she now for the first time faces two competing choices. Does she serve the couple and keep her job or does she deny them services in honor of upholding her values. Professor Zinn brings attention to the dichotomy faced by this waiter. In the end, self-preservation, in this case keeping the job outweighs her hatred. As I read this part of the book, two things caught my attention. One, human behavior is complex often with multiple motivations. And two, laws are one of the important and necessary methods in which human behavior can be influenced and ultimately change can take hold.

Forward to 56 years following the passing of the civil rights act to the present day. Much has been written and said — especially on social media about the “silent majority” or “white silence,” when concerning police brutality and systemic racism. For some, it is disheartening to continue the same conversations into a new millennium, which speaks volumes to the two Americas many still continue to ignore and some even deny. Yet the conversations we are having in 2020, however echoing of the past they may be, are of great importance, and should coincide with the understanding that the silence of the majority, of any majority is historical so much so that one wonders if it is human nature.

The great horrors of the past — genocides, slavery, colonialism, fascism, and so forth are examples which demonstrate the silence of the majority. When the matter concerns the rights of vulnerable groups in our particular society — there are the examples of the civil rights act, women rights act, disability rights act, stonewall, workers rights, fair housing act, and the list goes on. The majority, including the majority of the oppressed groups, are silent. Historically, what is witnessed are small groups of people within every society and during every era of history, who have risked life and liberty and shifted the scales towards justice. The courageous few and the silent many.

So one wonders, are the majority of people in a given society just evil, apathetic and unjust? To the contrary. I would say the natural disposition of the human being (before he or she is introduced to all the “isms” in which we separate ourselves) is one that is inclined towards justice and goodwill. Islam calls this “fitra.” John Rawls, one of America’s most well known philosophers describes this concept as “the veil of ignorance.” A competing nature to that inclination towards justice is the desire to seek safety within the larger group in which one closely identifies.

If we look back at the waiter, like most people she likely believed her position to be superior and perhaps more righteous. She may have even thought she came to those conclusions on her own merit. The truth, is more likely she adopted those beliefs from her group. People are social beings and as social beings, seek the safety within their groups. To achieve that safety they tend to follow the norms and behaviors of the larger group (even as far as going along with genocide), otherwise they risk becoming an outcast. Similarly, majority silence towards injustices experienced by outside groups represents an affinity for safety within one’s intimate group. Taking a knee for example only a few years ago during a shared cultural event such as football, a man risked losing his livelihood and becoming an outcast in his group. With the recent shifts in public opinion, many of world’s most celebrated athletes are able to participate in the same form of protest without any consequences. Given this nature of the human being, we can see why laws, movements, activism, awareness/education and different set of norms as practiced by the courageous few are not only necessary, but can help us achieve a more just and inclusive society and in time create a new set of social norms.

This then raises the question, why despite these many noble efforts for justice ongoing for hundreds of years since 1619 are movements still needed in a new millennium to remind people that black lives matter too and worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Racism, like all other isms (tribalism, nationalism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, classism etc), is a belief system and like all belief systems is embedded in the soul. Laws, social justice movements, education and so forth can impact behavior and even change minds, but will not transform soul beliefs. The remedy is spiritual.