LIBERTY, JUSTICE AND RHETORIC
A brief reflection on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jason Caros | January 16, 2024
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." – Martin Luther King JR.
In this hyper-contentious era in which we live, it is fitting to recognize the civic emphasis of Dr. King’s message and the great responsibility that parents and other educators have to their children in this arena…
By remembering the courageous efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. and others who labored with him during the Civil Rights Era in this brief reflection, I will promote our Constitution and Founding principles of this nation, as well one of the hallmarks of classical education, rhetoric—a key to effective citizenship. How so?
The quote about injustice comes from a letter Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in 1963 while in jail in Birmingham, Alabama; he was arrested after participating in a non-violent protest in that city. Most adults are well aware of the efforts King made in the civil rights arena. He was quite a rhetorician, as he persuasively helped make the case for the rights of Black Americans, and all Americans, through bold civil disobedience and powerful speeches (did you know he was classically educated?). While making his civil rights case, however, he, in effect, was a spokesman for Founding principles, in general. A few of my favorite MLK Jr. lines appear below.
In Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream Speech, he said: "In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, King wrote: "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights." In another section of this letter he wrote a response to supporters who questioned the practice of breaking laws, in his case, segregation laws which he believed to be unjust, for a greater good: "The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all." Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law."
In the short passages above, Martin Luther King Jr. summarized some important Founding principles adults and children ought to know:
1) our Founding documents, the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, are magnificent documents,
2) we live in a republic that promotes human liberty and flourishing,
3) we are all heirs of a promise to unalienable rights,
4) these rights are not given to us by men, government does not grant us rights, but they come from above, we have "natural rights", and
5) laws should be rooted in natural law (just), not the whims of man (unjust).
Each one of us educators, parents and teachers, has a great responsibility to teach these principles to our children. The liberties Americans have enjoyed for generations have been very uncommon in the history of the world, and are still uncommon around the world today. Nor should we take them for granted. Liberty today does not guarantee liberty tomorrow, for as Roland Bainton said, "Civilization is always only one generation away from barbarism."
With all of that said, it is difficult to successfully defend and promote ideas that one cannot express well to others. So, in addition to teaching children about the important principles, we must also teach them how to articulate these ideas and persuade others of their merits. Hence, the teaching of rhetoric, or persuasive speech grounded in truth. If we are going to preserve our liberties and the good and true elements of our civilization, reduce injustice and right wrongs, we are going to do so, in large part, through the efforts of good men and women speaking and writing well.
Jason Caros is a husband, father and classical school headmaster.