To The Left (Social Justice): See Me, See My Humanness

See Me, See My Humanness

By: Shannon Mouton

Our world is filled with obscure concepts we try to squeeze into neat little boxes. This often leads to frustrating and feeble attempts to define and explain those ideals and concepts, which, by their nature, are complicated and convoluted. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said in 1964 with regard to pornography, "I know it when I see it..." it is this same sense of knowing with the notion of social justice.

"Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being."

As there have been volumes written about this concept, I will only focus on a piece of it, "recognition [sic] [of] the dignity of every human being." This is the most important part; it is the essence of social justice; it is the foundation upon which the entire idea of is built. If you do not recognize my humanity, if you do not see me as a person, if you do not realize the innate value of my humanness, then all hope for social justice is lost.

• If you saw the women of the Congo as human beings, like your mother or wife, then you could not rape them.
• If you saw the children of Latin America as human beings, like your son or daughter, then you could not sell them into slavery.
• If you saw the men of Sudan as human beings, like your father or brother, then you could not mutilate them.

Let me bring this home because it is easy for us to turn a blind eye and say to ourselves that it's those people, it's happening over there or we would never allow to occur here.

• If you saw your wife as a human being, then you could not abuse her.
• If you saw your children as human beings, then they could not bully other children.
• If you saw your husband as a human being, then you could not degrade him.
• Finally, if you saw yourself as a human being, then this piece would not have been necessary.

Social justice begins at home. We have to recognize the value of those closest to us before we can see it in others. If not, then all hope is truly lost.