Only Those with Full Civil Rights Can Afford to Ignore Civil Rights [View all]

[MineralMan]

Those who don't have the same equal rights as those with privilege can't ignore that. Those rights also impact the ability to work, the chance to see all children as well educated as those with privilege, and the freedom to fully enjoy our society. If you can't vote, for example, you are forced to take what you get, politically. If you can't marry, you can't enjoy the benefits of marriage fully. If you can be paid less than someone else who does the same work at the same place, you are unequal.

Those of us, like me, born with the privilege of being white, male, straight and blessed with a university education have privilege that is unattainable by a vast number of people. It's easy for us to forget the importance of social justice and full access to the rights of this society. It's important, even crucial, that we do not lose sight of that due to our own privilege.

It is not a matter of whether economic justice or social justice is more important. Both are equally important, and have an enormous impact on each other. We need to focus on both, not just one. We need to make sure every U.S. Citizen has precisely the same basket of rights and can freely enjoy them. Unless we do that, our privilege is getting in the way of our judgment.

Nobody can call him or herself a progressive without a recognition that civil justice and economic justice are of equal importance, in my opinion. Both are essential in a nation like ours. Neither are in place. That's what we should all be working toward. We shouldn't be fighting against each other over these priorities. They are both equal in priority.

That is my belief, and position. If yours varies from that, so be it.