Justice is an important thing. It seems like a game to many attorneys and people but it has a serious part to play in national growth and development. It is the way in which we deal with conflict, hold account criminals (prince or pauper), and uses wisdom to find the right tool for the right job. Our justices must learn to fuse wisdom, law and moral conscious into one through a universalized outlook.
What does that mean? It means that all people are treated with dignity within the system. Some don't get a free pass because of the right religion, skin color, social connection or ideology. They shouldn't get to walk because we don't want to acknowledge the inappropriateness of behaviors (This seems to be a growing concern for most Americans and yet we struggle with grasping its fundamental nature to our long term national health. Clanship is growing and cutting across our institutions and there are very few things more dangerous for trust than this. . Hindsight is usually wiser than foresight.).
Turning the blind eye creates risks for hate group targets. It is a pass that the perpetrators of such values feel they have the right to engage in these behaviors in the future. They have learned them from the past (likely other victims) and are willing to use them as tools as an avenue of future power. The law should not encourage such distortions as it risks the foundations of society and the inherent protections codified within (Bill of Rights and Constitution. These should hold our primary national loyalties.).
Its a tricky dilemma in some's minds. If we start holding people in our social networks accountable we might experience a level of discomfort as that social network reacts. Likewise, if we do nothing even though the grotesqueness of the behaviors are apparent, we look like we are supporting and placating such behaviors. Thus, the system must stand for a higher moral cause beyond our, or our networks, needs.
Where is the middle road? Sometimes you know that the perpetrators are acting out of mental health issues. While they may not recognize it themselves, they are destructive, toxic, and dishonest creating problems not only for their blind followership but any person they are jealous enough to coordinate aggression against. (i.e. contrary to this groups opinion slavery isn't race related. Its their mental capacity to not blindly follow the rumor mill and act on it. Told who they can talk to and who they can't based on the distorted/dishonest viewpoint of their leadership.)
Add to that a few law enforcement members in their group who appear to know all the "tricks of the trade" and you find yourself in a difficult situation. You can't let them walk because if it happens again and its obvious it happens again and/or documented in the past (i.e. video capture, witnesses, historical records, multiple community complaints, etc...) you have a big problem with circumventing the purpose of the justice institution (i.e. justice and not third world clanship.)
If we want to be strong then we need to act with integrity with all of our institutions (i.e. that local college that said I'm more than qualified but then retracted because they found out I was the "Muslim" guy one of the manger's friends hated. While it is illegal its not held to account. I could mean aspects of the system are breaking down or it could mean there is much I don't know.). We must live by that integrity and develop that integrity throughout our systems. Our initiations should be universal to reflect the differences in our society and yet tie our beliefs to its capacity to be fair. While good and bad are often associated with institution in modern times (i.e. meaning lower than necessary social trust through inconsistency of justice) we have a responsibility to build and foster trust of our institutions through wisdom.
I have my opinions on what the balance between accountability and empathy lay but they are just my opinions and as we have learned that when you have a Muslim sounding name you are highly discounted in life. Very few things you say are going to be seen as worthwhile even though they may be the most reasonable comments in the room. Even though for the most part history has shown that such opinions have merit, even when the winds change. So...we start wondering if the dog is chasing the tail or the tail is chasing the dog. Let us see what fate brings.....
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