Abstract
Leonard Harris distinguished moral suasion from insurrectionist ethics, and argued that moral suasion possessed inadequate character virtues for ending slavery. For Harris insurrectionist ethics possessed a counter set of character virtues and actions following from them that were more prudent and dignity-affirming for ending slavery. This chapter extends Harris’ distinction and charge against moral suasion to protests in response to poor policing. Moral suasionist tactics such as peaceful protesting that deny violence are inadequate responses to poor policing. An appeal to insurrectionist ethics shows violent protesting to be a reasonable—that is morally justified and prudent—response. I argue for the reasonableness of violent protests in accordance with insurrectionist ethics in a few ways. First, I briefly distinguish moral suasion from insurrectionist ethics. Second, I show how Black people’s appeal to moral suasion is inadequate for changing poor policing practices. Third, I show that insurrectionist ethics avoids the preceding problems with moral suasion, and that—in accordance with insurrectionist ethics—violent protesting in response to poor policing is reasonable given the kind of environment to which poor policing contributes.
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Notes
- 1.
This quote was taken from a conversation between interlocutors discussing protests in response to George Floyd’s murder by police officers on “Cuomo Prime Time” on June 3, 2020.
- 2.
This quote comes from a conversation between Leonard Harris and I on March 27, 2018 at Purdue University wherein he vehemently opposed my Kantian solution to the problem of whites’ perceptions of black inferiority—as evidenced by slavery, Jim Crow, and a long history of racial subjugation in America.
- 3.
Moral suasion is commonly traced to Garrisonian abolitionism, but has been connected to Quakers and free blacks before Garrison.
- 4.
I have “bystanders” in quotation marks because one might view inaction—particularly willful inaction—as contributing to or a form of brutalization.
- 5.
Harris suggests that dignity is a sortial. Dignity “names a range of features that should be possessed by all beings of a kind.” What motivates certain insurrectionist character virtues and actions is that a person who should possess dignity realizes that they should possess it, but is denied it, and is motivated to do something about it.
- 6.
I am qualifying the inadequacy of peaceful protesting and moral suasion for Blacks in America changing poor policing practices. I withhold judgment as to whether these can be adequate strategies for non-Black groups.
- 7.
Kristin Henning begins an article about the role that poor policing practices play in the lives and socialization of Black boys as they become men with two rather incredible stories of Emilio and Tremaine. These stories illustrate the overaggressive and brutalizing force used by police officers against Black boys. And in the course of the article she discusses possible reasons for such poor policing, namely the creation of the Black super-predator, implicit biases against Blacks, and how these together motivate a presumption of guilty Black boys.
- 8.
“Agent” here means something closer to “being” who acts intentionally. This being may not be perceived as a human, a full human, or a person.
- 9.
A kind of “almost-” or “just about-” human status directly above slave, but far below either human or person.
- 10.
This claim is not without some controversy. Laurence Thomas claims that this idea can be attributed to Jews, but that: “No one has ever held such a view of blacks…” (Thomas 2005). (Also see: Thomas 1993.) However, there is much evidence to the contrary. See Jordan (1968) for a broad overview. Further, Immanuel Kant, the figure about which Thomas writes in the aforementioned article, mentions the moral inferiority of Blacks (Kant 2007, 93). Still further, this is evident by much of the demeaning representation of Blacks as apes, over-sexualized brutes, and lascivious jezebels, such as that in D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation and as pictures of “Around Blacks Never Relax” meme that has become rather popular on social media cites.
- 11.
It might be effective if whites peacefully protest in large numbers, insofar as whites will be more sympathetic agents because they are perceived as having the capacity to act morally from a respect for what morality requires. However, historically Blacks have not been able to rely on whites to sympathize with their causes or humanity/personhood on a large scale.
- 12.
See: Antonio Smith’s story: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/us/valdosta-wrongly-arrested-black-man-sues-police/index.html.
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Barnes, C.L. (2023). Insurrectionist Ethics, Moral Suasion, and Violent Protests for Poor Policing. In: Carter, J.A., Scriven, D. (eds) Insurrectionist Ethics. African American Philosophy and the African Diaspora. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16741-6_7
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