Social Justice and Justice

I believe there is a difference between justice and social justice that came to a head last night.

Justice is the objective, blind, and fair treatment and adjudication of our laws to all people, regardless of skin color, gender, national origin, or any other real or imagined social identity.

Social justice is the exact opposite.  Social justice looks for individuals who have possibly been marginalized or wronged at some point in the past, and then subjectively attempts to right those wrongs through various means.

I'm not against social justice, but social justice is a poor substitute for actual justice.  Social justice is best carried out by private citizens, organizations, churches, etc.  Government cannot be the bearer of social justice.  Government's concern must be solely on justice, without any deference to the plight of others who identify with the person in question.

Last night justice was done.  In this instance, the weight of evidence pointed to Darren Wilson discharging his firearm to defend himself.  I do not wish to go through that evidence here, but will provide links to others who have already done so.

Yet because years of oppression, police brutality, and militarized police has occurred, many folks demanded a different outcome.  But a million examples of wrong-doing by people in authority to Black Americans doesn't change what actually happened in Ferguson, MO on August 4, 2014.  Centuries of denying actual justice to Black Americans cannot change what justice is in an individual incident.  Social justice demands attention to unfair prosecutions, poor schools, and laws that seem to target young black men more than young white men.  But social justice cannot alter the just decision.

Black Americans have been repeatedly on the wrong side of supposed justice in the United States for centuries.  That fact cannot be ignored.  And while there are ways to correct it, indicting a police officer for defending himself after being attacked is not one of them.  That doesn't fix justice.  That's just playing to emotions.

And because of people like Al Sharpton, those emotions were further heightened.  And now, a town burns.  I cannot begin to understand how centuries of being treated unfairly would manifest itself in me.  I know I would want to smash things too.  But it doesn't solve anything.  It hurts neighbors and it gives ammo to other people who want to point and say "look, we told you so."

My prayers are for the family of Michael Brown.  They are for Darren Wilson.  They are for the citizens and business owners in Ferguson, MO.  They are for Black Americans, and they are for  White Americans.  There is a hashtag of "#BlackLivesMatter" trending.  That's incredibly true.  But all lives matter.  That's where society needs to be.  Ready to embrace justice, rather than social justice.