Justice

Am I Doing My Job If Right If I Don't End Up In Jail In The Next Four Years?

What do I have to do so that one day I can look my grandkids in the eye and say, "But I resisted."

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Brain jailIt turns out that I was born in the middle of the only halfway decent era where it was okay to be black and live in this country. From the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the election of Donald Trump in 2016, one could argue that it’s been the only time in American history where it was possible to both be a self-respecting black man AND follow the law. For these brief, 50-odd years, a black man could tell himself that if he simply followed the rules, he could be anything. Even the President of the United States.

It wasn’t all chicken and waffles, of course. The list of things that I could technically do, but not really do, was always long. I couldn’t, for instance, drive in my car without fear of being stopped and shot. Dating a white girl was always dicey. I eventually just stopped even trying to rent a condo in a doorman building.

But I was born in 1978 and until last night, I could reasonably expect that I could go about my life and confront injustice with words, filings, and maybe the occasional protest march. I could consider myself part of the social contract, and accept laws that I didn’t agree with because I was still part of my own self-government.

In January, however, the reign of pluralistic self-government will be over. We all got to vote, but not everybody’s votes counted equally. Most likely, for the second time in my life, the person who got the most votes will not be president. Instead, a man who has promised to use the powers of the state for bigoted purposes will be in charge. And his party will control both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court, because the GOP’s willful obstruction of the current president has paid off… big league.

History does not kindly record the deeds of Germans who didn’t “vote” for Hitler, but acquiesced to his rule. Outside of Trump supporters, we do not look fondly upon those who tacitly supported the institution of slavery. There are moments when men and women of good character cannot stand by and do not stand silent. The KKK just got its very own president-elect. I’m not sure that wearing all black on Instagram is the appropriate response here.

And so I ask: What is required of me to resist? “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.” When Trump/Ryan/Alito prohibit rape victims from getting an abortion because they were secretly asking for it… what am I obligated to do? When Rudy Giuliani authorizes 24/7 surveillance on any citizen with an Arabic-sounding email address, how am I supposed to voice dissent?

‘Cause I gotta tell you, filing a lawsuit to a court stacked with white men doesn’t feel like enough. Posting a “hot take” on the internet feels woefully inadequate. Every intelligent person I know, across two political parties, did everything they could to stop this man from winning. He won. Somehow, I don’t think saying, “See, I told you he was crazy,” is going to be enough to fulfill a moral obligation to stop him from hurting people.

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Not that he can be stopped. White people in Wisconsin really want their low-skilled manufacturing jobs back and, well, if gays have to be thrown into the Hannibal Lecter cell and forced to listen to religious instruction, they’re cool with that.

But since I’m not an uneducated white man, assume I’m willing to do more than pray, bitch, and blame the media in my efforts to take my country back. Assume I think I can do more than hoard guns and camo pants. Assume I’m every bit as afraid, but nowhere near as stupid and cowardly, as a person who thinks walls keep out problems.

How far do I have to go? What do I have to do so that one day I can look my grandkids in the eye and say, “But I resisted.”

Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. Night gathers, and now my watch begins. For this night, and all the nights to come.

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