Equality, Justice and Atticus Finch

Equality. A topic Malaysians are familiar with, but many would say they rarely experience. It may be said we do not have a choice, all humans are different, unique in looks and behaviour and intelligence and therefore not equal. I concur. I feel we need it even, this inequality. It weeds out the bums from the hardworking, sieves the brave from the meek and the leaders from the followers. Like an ant colony, it creates structure in our world with the workers, the leaders, the kings, children, teachers and lawyers and miners and ... in short, inequality by nature ensures everyone has their place and in that we are all equal. We all have our task, a life to lead and see through to the end. But in this post I am not talking about God-created inequalities but of man-made ones.

This inequality, perhaps it can be said, is a worldwide plague. Yet it’s a disease hard to cure for we ourselves fuel its spread, and every time it seems the plaque, in some form or another, is close to being eradicated, we humans find a way to help it grow again, for our own selfish reasons. We all do it, some in small ways while others blatant for they are wrapped snug with the knowledge they have the money or majority. We differentiate the colour of skin, height, material possessions, political preference, size, religion, culture, gender, country of origin, clan, race, age...an endless list. There will always be someone happy to add to that list, for these man-made inequalities are turned into fodder for bias, prejudice and stereotype which in turn creates chaos and hurt, resulting in unequal rights being accorded.

Malaysia, it would seem to me right now, is chronically ill, infected with inequalities in varying doses. Ugly words are uttered in the news each day – religious tension, racial bias, money politics, political persecution, cronyism and others. Our nation's political scenario, for example, has become a free-for-all mud fight, during a wrestling match, held in a boxing ring. It's below the belt, dirty and if you believe in everything you're told, it would seem everyone has their hand in the cookie jar. And while some accusations are so nonsensical even B-Grade scriptwriters keep away from such lines, some are disturbing, especially when it concerns inequalities influencing our country’s governance. Those are downright scary.

But I was recently reminded by a friend of a book, one of my favourite. One that I have read so many times, it’s all I can do to keep the pages from falling into pieces. It is a book as relevant today as it was the day it was first published, as it was during the period of which it was written. I have vowed that my children will be given a copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee to read as soon as they know how and it is my humble opinion all parents should do the same.

But this post is not a book review. I want to quote a speech from said marvellous book. Written of a time when whites and blacks do not eat at the same table, the book, in part, tells of a white lawyer, Atticus Finch (my hero), who defends a black man accused of raping a white girl. And in his closing statement, as he pleads for justice for his client, that the jury does not let prejudice and bias get in the way of common sense, he said this:

“Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions. The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious – because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind will suffer terrible feelings of inferiority. We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe – some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they’re born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others – some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men.
But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal – there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honourable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal...Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up...,”

Atticus, we hope things have not changed since 1935. And while Malaysia no longer uses the jury system, the folds of Atticus’s speech can be extended to include judge and lawyers too and I think one does not have to be American to appreciate what he says. He speaks of an ideal every citizen of every nation demands from the justice system in their country. In Malaysia, we demand it not just from our courts, but Inquiries and Royal Commissions that have been taking place for when justice and equality are the same, truth prevails. Fingers crossed.

- We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light- Plato