Check the practice, not just the words. When Gandhi was arrested after the post-WWI satyagraha, he demanded of the court that he be given the strongest possible sentence, even though the charges against him were a trumped-up fraud. When King went to jail in Birmingham, he had a legal team working that had him out in days. There's a difference between openly breaking a law and taking the penalty and allowing the unjust sway of authority to roll over you. In some cases, Gandhi was prepared to allow the latter. King never was. That's a distinction that Cummins elides. He's in lots of bad company there. Back in the day when I used to getting arrested was central to my political practice (WRL trained me as an organizer - it's not their fault I was bad at it), the "Gandhi and King took what was coming to them" line came out of the mouth of absolutely every half-witted prosecutor. Cummins has picked it right up, but there's no reason for us to follow him.
Michael McIntyre
>>> eric_dorkin at yahoo.com 04/25/02 10:26 AM >>>
with all due respect: I hope you can see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law as the rabid segregationist would do. This would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly, (not hatefully as the white mothers did in New Orleans when they were seen on television screaming "n-word, n-word, n-word") and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law. Martin Luther Kgin ;)
Michael McIntyre <mmcintyr at depaul.edu> wrote:I know nothing at all about the specifics of SJP, but this charlatan's point 8 gives the game away, doesn't it? Learn to spell Gandhi's name before invoking him, asshole. And then do a little fact checking and find out how many lawyers King kept around to get him out of jail ASAP when he was arrested. Gandhi's insistence on the redemptive power of unmerited suffering is distinctly an idiosyncratic sideline in the history of nonviolent direct action. But this pompous little bureaucrat, who has no doubt spent his life ducking and covering, wouldn't know anything about that, would he?
Michael McIntyre
>>> joanna.bujes at ebay.sun.com 04/24/02 17:12 PM >>>
I wrote to all the vice chancellors; here is the reply from one of them.
Comments?
Joanna _________________________
8. You have also raised the matter of civil disobedience. A long history of civil disobedience in the spirit of Ghandi and Martin Luther King recognizes the importance of suffering the consequences of one's actions. That understanding seems to be absent among the protesters in this case.
John Cummins Assistant Chancellor
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