Nestled in the foothills of north Georgia in the small town of Rome is one of the world's largest college campuses, Berry College. Founded in 1902 as a school for rural children on 83 acres of land, Berry College, today, boasts a campus size of 26,000 acres and a student body of just under 2,000. This is one of the most beautiful campuses a person could visit. On any given day, deer can be seen grazing on the abundant grass fields that grace the campus. A trip along the trails of the campus lead to an old corn mill and large reservoir. Beautiful trees line the campus.
A story related about Martha Berry, the founder, speaks of someone coming across her planting a row of trees in the middle of a field. The person asks her what she is doing to which she replies "planting trees that someday will line a road that people will drive down to access an education." Today that row of trees can be seen along the old school entrance running from Martha Berry highway towards the house in which Martha Berry at one time lived. The old "gate of opportunity" is beautiful to behold. Martha Berry was a visionary and an admirable philanthropist. (You can visit the website of Berry College to review their campus and learn more about Martha Berry: www.berry.edu).
The college promotes the believe of Martha Berry to deliver an education of "the head, the heart, and the hands" (Berry.edu, 2010). Martha Berry believed in an education which emphasized learning (imagine that - a college that promotes learning), emphasized being a volunteer for others, and promoted work. This belief is still held today and was a continuing theme of the various speakers at the class of 2010's graduation.
My original plan was to begin my dissertation on the Arizona immigration law, SB1070. After attending my daughter's graduation from the aforementioned institution this past Saturday, May 8th, I changed my plans. This change came about due to the guest speaker and a quote from Martha Berry related by another speaker.
I cannot remember the Martha Berry quote word-for-word so the quote will have to paraphrased. The gist of the quote is "those that seek out the easy make themselves weaker, those that seek out the difficult make themselves stronger." This is a powerful quote and a great lesson to learn. In an easy analogy, look at muscle building. It is easy to lift ten pounds. One who continues to lift ten pounds will not be as strong as someone who continues to increase the weight they lift to a weight that is difficult for them to lift. The quote is also analogous to Robert Frost's famous poem, "The Road Less Traveled." It is easy to continue on the path others have taken; might not be as easy to travel on the road that others have not taken. Who is more enriched by their specific road of choice?
The guest speaker at the graduation was Rev. Meisel, president of The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, a national philanthropic organization based in Princeton, N.J. During his speech he mentioned the importance of social justice. This is where today's diatribe began to take shape.
I wondered if Martha Berry would be a proponent of social justice? Or at least, how I view social justice. Reflecting on her quote versus my believe of what social justice means, I have my doubts. When I researched what social justice means, I began to develop a different answer. So today I will discuss social justice.
When I hear the words "social justice," I envision taking from one group of people and giving to others, especially used to redistribute wealth. Social justice is, in fact, more complicated than my simple meaning. The definition of social justice is "the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society" (dictionary.com, 2010). A good example of this would be affirmative action which redistributed advantages Caucasian individuals had with respect to hiring practices to minority groups, such as African-Americans.
Another viewpoint is social justice is the view of a strong value system which promotes equal economic, political, and social rights and opportunities (National Association of Social Workers, n.d.). Yet another viewpoint, would make equal rights with respect to social justice to mean equal access to programs that make it possible for people from any societal sector or standing to be successful (Ellis-Christensen, 2010). In each case, something is taken from one group and given to another group in the name of justice, in the name of fairness. But who is defining what fair is?
This is the crux of the right versus the left. Leftist views would have you believe that government must tax the rich to pay for programs that benefit those who have been disadvantaged. Rightist views would have you believe that government must only encourage philanthropy while ensuring everyone has the opportunity to pursue their success.
Social justice should not be confused with socialism. Socialism is the ownership of capital and property in the community as a whole which some view as government ownership of business. Socialism will be discussion for later.
Social justice has a place in our country. There are some who have been disadvantaged to misbelieves, I refer back to affirmative action. Our history is ripe with injustice towards the ex-slaves after the Civil War and their decendants for generations. Black Americans were disadvantaged due to their skin color and nothing more. Our country had to do something to bring justice so that black Americans have the same equal opportunity as white Americans. Of course, at some point, this disadvantage should go away. That is the purpose of social justice to make it equal for all.
However, the line must be drawn at economic justice. Governments cannot be a Robbing Hoodlum to take from the strong to give to the weak. Nor should they over tax one group to give benefits or pay for programs to another group. Going back to Martha Berry's quote, what message does it send when someone who works hard to be strong is rewarded by having what is rightfully theirs taken to give to someone who is not as strong as them or chooses the weak path? This policy creates animosity between the two groups. The strong resent the weak for not trying to be strong and the weak resent the strong for being strong. It is not a win-win situation.
So what would Martha Berry support? I believe the answer lies in her actions. She founded a school to educate the head, the heart, and the hands. She did this by taking action and not expecting others to give up what they had for her to accomplish her dream. She attempted the difficult to become strong. Her legacy lies in the education given to the graduates, the promotion of giving from the heart, in other words, the education in philanthropy, and the education of doing work with your hands. I doubt Martha Berry would've supported that work of the hands to be done with a gun pointed towards another.
So when looking at social justice, we need to ponder why someone is advantaged while someone else is disadvantaged. Is the disadvantage due to something the disadvantaged had no control over? For example, no one has control over their race, their sex, or their sexual preference. Some may throw in ability. But some ability is controllable and some is not. For example, I have the ability to catch a football thrown at me. However, I do not have the ability to do it as a profession in the National Football League. Should I use the cause of social justice to force the issue? No. The use of social justice needs common sense. Some may also throw in class. However, this is the land of opportunity. If you want to improve your class, at least in our country, there is opportunity to do so. But you can't take the easy road.
In the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers stated, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It does not say you will actually be happy.
Mike
References:
Declaration of Independence (1776). Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/
Dicitionary.com (2010). Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/social+justice
Ellis-Christensen, T. (2010, May 2). What is Social Justice? Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-social-justice.htm
National Association of Social Workers. (n.d.) Issue fact sheets, Social Justice. Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/features/issue/peace.asp
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