The Greatest Injustice

“How do you manage to have the strength to keep fighting the small injustices when they come the largest injustice of them all?”

“We have no other choice.”

We actually do have another choice. We can give in‒‒accepting injustice as inevitable and believing we are powerless to change it.

We do not live in a utopian society, therefore injustice is most likely inevitable, but I do not believe we are powerless.

Racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, religious intolerance, economic inequity and the exploitation of the planet are definitely injustices‒‒injustices often born of greed and the lust for power. Although all these; including greed and power; are deeply entrenched systemic injustices, dehumanization is the true root of these injustices. It is both the conscious and unconscious denying a fellow human being dignity, value and respect that is, in my opinion, the greatest injustice of all.

Believing someone is less than because of the color of their skin, their gender, their socioeconomic status, how they worship or whom they love allows us to dehumanize and exploit them for our own gain. It would be easy for us to make excuses. It would be easy to tell ourselves “that’s how it has always been.” It may be easy, but it does not make it right. If we are people of faith, we have been taught we were all made in God’s image. If we do not practice a “traditional” religion, most if not all philosophies or dogmas have their own version of the Golden Rule. Dehumanization violates every tenet of religious faith, spiritual beliefs and ethical philosophy. We cannot claim to value life if we choose to deny all human beings their right to be fully human.

Nevertheless, there are still those who chose to be selective, granting only those they deem to worthy full humanity. There are those who choose to focus on their own personal goals and aspirations and ignore the dehumanization of those who cannot aid them in their goals. There are also those who lack the courage and desire to speak out and fight against dehumanization. Then there are those who understand the importance of respecting and valuing all life. They recognize it is our duty as fellow human beings to acknowledge everyone has the right to be fully human.

There are many in Nashville who are fighting for that right. Some are fighting against systemic racism, others are fighting against xenophobia, and some are fighting for basic human dignity.

Because of the dehumanization of others by some members of law enforcement, a general mistrust of the criminal justice system and police officers has steadily grown. By no means are all law enforcement officers unjust, but if we choose to ignore the discrimination or bias, the corrosiveness of these views continue to erode the fabric of our society. These systemic issues cannot be fixed overnight, but we can begin to mend the fabric if we are willing to fight the small injustices.

We have the chance to do just that in Nashville. Sadly, our city leaders, police department leadership, and some members of the faith community have chosen not to embrace the opportunity. Instead, they have chosen to ignore the pleas and will of the community. They have chosen to be secretive and to hide behind rules that do not exist. They have chosen to commit to a process that has no semblance of impartiality. They have chosen to ignore and try and silence employees who urgently need support and protection. Consciously or unconsciously, they have chosen to allow the dehumanization of those who risk their lives in order to save ours. They have chosen to force these women and men to not only risk their lives on the streets of Nashville, but risk their physical and emotional safety or their ability to provide for their families as well. Leaders within the police department and city government have chosen to put their desires and aspirations above the basic welfare of others. They have chosen to claim powerlessness and allow injustice to reign.

When leaders within the faith community, city leadership and the police department refuse to address issues such as racism, sexual violence, sexism and other forms of dehumanization, they themselves are stripping away the dignity of others. When leaders take the easy route, when they choose to be complicit, it falls on the people to speak out and fight for justice. It is up to the people to fight against the little injustices. It is up to us to hold our leaders accountable for their inactions, and to acknowledge we all deserve to be valued and granted basic human dignity. We will meet with resistance, but we indeed have no other choice. As Reverend Martin Niemöller told us, if we don’t speak up for others, when “they came for [us]-there was no one left to speak for [us].”