Morris Leibman's Impact On Society
Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war.
And if then the tyrants dare,
Let them ride among you there;
Slash, and stab, and maim and hew;
What they like, that let them do.
Throughout history, the United States has had to face countless controversial issues that have had the potential to divide society and threaten the fundamental laws of the land. These issues are a recurring in American history and have been present since our American experiment was first tested. Problems such as the South’s “peculiar institution”, women’s rights, immigration, religion, discrimination, poverty, worker’s rights, and many more continue to be hot topics in twenty-first century …show more content…
To effectively answer this question we must begin with why some would think it would negatively impact society. In Morris I. Leibman’s address before the American Bar Association meeting in 1962, he reasons that civil disobedience, as was seen then in the Civil Rights Movement in the sixties, is a threat to the “law society”. He states that “justice delayed is no excuse for anti-justice or the destruction of the law system” and that individuals who demand immediate recognition of certain issues demand “impossibility”. What Leibman does not recognize in his address, however, is the fact that the “law society” he believes to be threatened was created by civil disobedience. The injustices of the British monarchy on the colonists created ripples of discontent throughout the colonies. The American Revolution and the following establishment of the United States of America was ignited by the acts of disobedience by the colonists. Their refusal to comply with the British Parliament’s restrictive acts and laws on the colonies were and continue to be the foundation of the American political system. As one of the leading figures of the American experiment once said, "...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,”. And if justice is delayed, as Leibman puts it, what makes the “law system” legitimate? Why should a “law system” that doesn’t protect and provide for the people be kept? Another interesting statement from Leibman’s address was “Immediacy is impossible in a society of human beings. What is possible is to continue patiently to build the structures that permit the development of better justice.” The immediate demands of the abused, the hungry, the poor shouldn’t be considered unrealistic or impossible. The people who have survived the adversity and abuse of a government who should be providing
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war.
And if then the tyrants dare,
Let them ride among you there;
Slash, and stab, and maim and hew;
What they like, that let them do.
Throughout history, the United States has had to face countless controversial issues that have had the potential to divide society and threaten the fundamental laws of the land. These issues are a recurring in American history and have been present since our American experiment was first tested. Problems such as the South’s “peculiar institution”, women’s rights, immigration, religion, discrimination, poverty, worker’s rights, and many more continue to be hot topics in twenty-first century …show more content…
To effectively answer this question we must begin with why some would think it would negatively impact society. In Morris I. Leibman’s address before the American Bar Association meeting in 1962, he reasons that civil disobedience, as was seen then in the Civil Rights Movement in the sixties, is a threat to the “law society”. He states that “justice delayed is no excuse for anti-justice or the destruction of the law system” and that individuals who demand immediate recognition of certain issues demand “impossibility”. What Leibman does not recognize in his address, however, is the fact that the “law society” he believes to be threatened was created by civil disobedience. The injustices of the British monarchy on the colonists created ripples of discontent throughout the colonies. The American Revolution and the following establishment of the United States of America was ignited by the acts of disobedience by the colonists. Their refusal to comply with the British Parliament’s restrictive acts and laws on the colonies were and continue to be the foundation of the American political system. As one of the leading figures of the American experiment once said, "...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,”. And if justice is delayed, as Leibman puts it, what makes the “law system” legitimate? Why should a “law system” that doesn’t protect and provide for the people be kept? Another interesting statement from Leibman’s address was “Immediacy is impossible in a society of human beings. What is possible is to continue patiently to build the structures that permit the development of better justice.” The immediate demands of the abused, the hungry, the poor shouldn’t be considered unrealistic or impossible. The people who have survived the adversity and abuse of a government who should be providing