Our Civil Society

Funny how civility only comes up when someone who is privileged suffers just once what others suffer every damn day.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

I read with interest how the Red Hen (NOT THE ONE IN D.C.! OMG! STOP THREATENING THEM!) asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave.

I then read with interest how a transgendered woman in D.C. was harassed when attempting to use the restroom in a restaurant.  The restaurant has since apologized. You might have missed this story given the story of the Red Hen (NOT the one in DC.  PLEASE DO NOT MAKE DEATH THREATS AND THREATEN TO TORCH THE ONE IN D.C. TO MAKE YOUR POINT ABOUT CIVILITY).  I then remembered a GOP candidate videotaping herself harassing a transgender woman who just wanted to use a restroom in a Denny’s.  You might have heard about legislation in certain states designed with the apparent purpose of making sure no matter what restroom you picked as a transgendered person, you’d be in trouble.  I’m reminded of how many transgendered women have been killed for being transgendered.

I then remembered a story of two black men who had the police called on them at a Starbucks.  You might remember this story as well.  They were civil and settled for $1.  I remember how many encounters between unarmed black men and police have not gone so well.  I remembered a story of a black man charged with assault.  He had apparently used his face to attack the fists of many white supremacists.

Then I remembered stories of people throwing pig blood and pig carcasses at a mosque.  And they weren’t even out to eat.  But then I remembered stories of Muslims being harassed on airplanes because they were speaking a different language.  I remember reading stories of hijabs forcibly ripped off of Muslim women.  And yes, I remember a settlement involving Muslim women getting kicked out of a restaurant.

I then read some articles about Hispanics being harassed by ICE on a bus.  Because they are Hispanic.  I remember a story of a lawyer who was threatening people who spoke Spanish.  I remember the civility of the mariachi band that followed.

I pondered that, on the basis of religious freedom, the potentially expansive reaches of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby and Masterpiece Cake cases, no matter how narrow the holding of the latter.

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I remember my own experiences, having cops called on me, being escorted out of a store, being barred from entering a restaurant.  Threatened with violence.  Partly because of my socioeconomic status, partly because of who I was with at the time.

I’ve seen it happen to far too many minorities and poor people without anyone being outraged.  So if businesses get to discriminate, we’re going to see worse.  Sorry, I mean privileged white people will see worse.  Those who have experienced discrimination based upon race, class, sexual preference, and socioeconomic class already have been experiencing it all along.  To paraphrase Langston Hughes: America never was civil to me.

For Sarah Huckabee Sanders, being called out and forced to leave a restaurant was no doubt a humiliating and a memorable experience.  For her and others, it’s an experience that calls into question the civility of discourse in our country.

But for many Americans who experience this on a daily basis, it’s just another day.  For many, one bad encounter will mean death.  And articles about civility will not be written about those instances.  Or at least they won’t see the outrage that this has caused.

My point:  Funny how civility only comes up when someone who is privileged suffers just once what others suffer every damn day.

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I’m not saying I agree with Red Hen (NOT THE D.C. ONE!).  I’m saying that Sarah Huckabee Sanders had one bad experience and people are outraged because she was humiliated for who she was.  I’m waiting for the outrage to be equally vocal every single time someone in America faces that humiliation.  Then we’ll be civil.

Maybe.

 

LawProfBlawg is an anonymous professor at a top-100 law school. You can see more of his musings here He is way funnier on social media, he claims.  Please follow him on Twitter (@lawprofblawg) or Facebook. Email him at lawprofblawg@gmail.com.