If you were to turn on the news today, you would see station after station featuring issues related to race and social justice. Same for social media. Every post, image and caption centers on different people’s opinions on the topic. One of the beautiful aspects of our world today is that people are able to express their opinions, and make their voices heard. The other side of this is that it is increasingly easy to put false information out there. When you browse social media or watch the news, it is so easy to fall into the trap of hearing someone’s opinion, and believing it to be “fact.” It is because of this that we will start our module with “unpacking” terms and ideas related to injustice.
What is social justice?
“Social justice” is a process which seeks fair distribution of resources, opportunities, and responsibilities for all people. Social justice is not an outcome. This means, there is no future in which you could say “ah, we have finally achieved social justice!” It doesn’t work like that. Social justice is a movement, which challenges the roots of oppression and injustice, empowers all people to exercise self determination, and realize their full potential. The social justice process seeks to build community and social solidarity for collaborative action. Now if that is unclear, because I have used a bunch of new terms… let’s break it down further.
Let’s start with distribution of resources. This term literally means, the way resources are handed out or made available to people. Let’s start with something 100% of us are familiar with: water. We need it to survive. It is a basic human right that we have access to it. Without water, we would die. An “equal distribution of water resources” would mean every single human has the same opportunity to get clean water. Obviously, you and I know this is not the case. There are social justice movements dedicated entirely to trying to provide everyone with access to clean water. You may have heard about the water crisis in Flint Michigan and thought, how is this a social justice issue? Well, now you can see that it is. (Learn the fast facts about the Flint Water Crisis Here.)
Most people are able to get on board with the idea that everyone needs water. As far as resources go, it is generally agreed that humans need water, food, and shelter. There have been groups pushing for an “equal distribution” of those resources for many years. Take a moment and ask yourself: What are some other resources that all people deserve equal access to? —- Did you think: education? What about health care? Job opportunities? Mental health? The list of resources available to us as humans is longer than most of us take the time to consider. Whatever the resources, “Distributive justice is concerned with the fair allocation of resources among diverse members of a community…” which includes, “the benefits and burdens of our lives [being shared] between members of a society or community.” (For more on distributive justice, read this piece by Michelle Maiese here.)
In addition to this push for equal distribution of resources, the social justice movement challenges the roots of oppression and injustice. Let’s start with an example from Michelle Alexander’s New York Times Bestselling novel, The New Jim Crow.
“Jarvious Cotton cannot vote. Like his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, he has been denied the right to participate in our electoral democracy (aka the right to vote). Cotton’s family tree tells the story of several generations of black men who were born in the United States but who were denied the most basic freedom that democracy promises – the freedom to vote. Cotton’s great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the KKK for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by KKK intimidation. His father was barred from voting by poll taxes and literary tests (they would make you pay, and take biased reading tests to vote). Today, Jarvious Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United states, has been labeled a ‘felon’ and his currently on parole (which is the law in Mississippi).” (You can read the full cycle of Jarvious Cotton’s lawsuits here.)
If you were to see Jarvious Cotton’s face trending on social media, you may feel inspired to share, and post #FreeCotton! You may think “Yet another black man wrongfully imprisoned.” You may think “I don’t get what all the fuss is about. He broke the law, of course he can’t vote.” You may think, “Typical. What a thug.” The social justice movement asks you not to look ONLY at Jarvious Cotton. His story may be what first grabbed your attention, but there is a responsibility to look into the “roots of oppression and injustice.” That means, following his family tree all the way back to the beginning. It means opening your mind to the possibility that a system founded on the injustice of slavery might still be inextricably connected to the oppression of black people. (You can read The Sentencing Project’s Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System here.)
Advocates for social justice work to empower all people to exercise self determination, and realize their full potential. The idea of self determination comes from Self Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) which suggests “people are motivated to grow and change by three… psychological needs. This theory suggests that people are able to become self-determined when their needs for competence, connection, and autonomy are fulfilled.” (Cherry, verywellmind.com, 2019). Basically, all humans want three things: freedom to live their own life and make their own decisions (autonomy), The ability to do something they care about successfully (competence), and meaningful relationships with others (connection). If you are a member of the social justice movement, you want all people to be able to reach self determination regardless of their race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other factors. Social justice is not “let’s work until the world no longer sees our differences” or “let’s work until we are all the same.” Social justice is “let’s continue working until the world sees differences and believes everyone is worthy of self determination.” And continue working, even then.
So what does the work look like? The social justice process seeks to build community and social solidarity for collaborative action. Solidarity means unity or agreement. This means standing with someone with your actions, or empathizing with their feelings and experience. This can look like individuals with a common interest, or people who choose to support a group. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, one way people showed solidarity was by wearing masks, or staying home even if they were not members of a high risk group. By doing this, they said “Hey, I may not be able to understand what you are going through as a member of the high risk group, but I can show I support you by wearing this mask. I want to keep you safe.”
Collaborative action is working together to achieve a goal. Think about group work in school. Most people either love it or hate it. We all know the different types of group work participants out there. 1) The know it all. There are the kids who have a hard time working with others because they like to be in control. They tell everyone else what to do. They want to do the project their way. If things don’t go their way, or if someone disagrees with them, then they lose their temper. At this point, they typically go off on everyone, or opt for “Fine, you guys do whatever you want I don’t care.” and stop contributing. 2) There’s also the person looking for a free ride. They love group work, because they want to get by with doing as little work as possible. They may or may not do the work delegated to them. Typically, someone has to redo it. They want the grade, but they don’t want to lift a finger. 3) There’s the silent partner. This person does great work, and contributes to the effort of the group. However, they don’t say much. They have great ideas to share, they are super smart, but they are also mostly silent. The group is thankful to have them, because they are productive, but may never know how much better their project could have been if this person had chosen to speak up. 4) Don’t we all know an instigator? Whether they are trying to make everyone laugh, repeatedly guiding the group off task, or making serious mistakes… they are causing problems with the group for the sake of causing problems. They detract (take away) from the end goal. They likely ended up in the group because they have a friend who is a member, or you felt bad for them, or they forced themselves into the group… or maybe the teacher made you work with them because no one else could handle it. They might make you laugh once or twice. At the end of the day, no one likes an instigator. 5) The leader by example. The ideal group member, this person stays on task and does the work. They are kind to everyone, and guide the group back on task when needed. The leader doesn’t rule over the group as a dictator, but as a partner. They want everyone to do a job that they can do well, and they want everyone to feel heard. The leader always keeps the end goal in mind. People want to work with them.
At a basic level, social justice is a group project. As you work through the modules, learn and engage, react and reflect, you need to ask yourself: what type of group member am I? It is important to acknowledge whether you have been the know-it-all, the free-rider, the silent partner, the instigator, or the leader by example in the past. Then, decide which one you want to be moving forward.
Check out: React and Reflect Next!
Social + Justice + You 