Justice Is Not a Zero-Sum Game

Justice has replaced public health and pandemics as the foremost concern in the minds of many Americans. In the wake of the death of George Floyd the nation has wrestled with the complex problems of racism, policing, and “privilege”*. Riots happened, cities burned, people scoffed, people listened and challenged their perceptions and perspectives, and questions were asked. The phrase “black lives matter” was seen and said everywhere.

I deliberately decided not to write about George Floyd in the aftermath of his death.

At the time, I believed that there were too many people offering unhelpful and unqualified commentary on his death. It was time for listening, not for pontificating. In the midst of so much division and confusion, I would only be offering another white person’s point of view.

I am not against discussions of race in our nation. I’m very much for it in fact. But I have serious doubts that social media is the place to have those discussions. I want to talk to people in a more personal environment. I want to listen to real people with my real ears.

Not Just Another White Person’s George Floyd Commentary

All that said, I write this article desiring to dig deeper than George Floyd. I don’t want this to be viewed as another white person’s commentary on George Floyd or on racism or on riots.

This article is about a flawed approach to justice. I think we’re all guilty of it at times. We believe that justice for one person must equate to injustice for another.

You see, just recently, another murder happened. This victim’s name was Cannon Hinnant. He was five years old. He was shot by a neighbor. And he was white.

Many conservatives now tauntingly ask, “Where’s the outrage?”

They wag their fingers and chide those who marched for Floyd as hypocrites. They point out that if Hinnant was black and his killer was white, it would be front-page news across the country and the spark for more unrest and rioting. Instead, they point to a perceived lackluster news coverage and quiet streets as proof that the “social justice warriors” only care about justice if the victim is black.

Others point out that Hinnant’s killer was almost immediately arrested and charged and will certainly face harsh justice while justice for Floyd and others like him is not guaranteed.

Zero-Sum Justice

Both sides of this debate miss a crucial point. They assume justice is a zero-sum game. They assume that if we are to grieve Floyd’s murder and seek justice, that we can’t turn around and do the same for a white child. They subconsciously determine that if we’re outraged about Hinnant’s senseless killing, we’re taking away from the justice that Floyd deserves.

Too often times we view justice as a zero-sum game. If we add justice here, we must take away justice from there. That justice for black people will be hurtful for white. That justice for a white boy killed by a black neighbor is proof that further injustice against the black community exists.

That does not have to be the case.

Privilege & Oppression

I’m afraid that the way we respond to the tragedies of George Floyd and Cannon Hinnant reveal how fractured our society has become. We certainly have drawn the lines and nurtured an “us v.s. them” mentality.

“Why aren’t ‘they’ outraged about ‘our’ tragedies?”

“Why don’t ‘they’ understand ‘our’ pain?”

*Words like “white privilege” and “oppression” have become more common. I don’t have time to unpack the concept of white privilege here, but I believe it is more nuanced than either “side” would have us believe. The key is not whether privilege or systemic racism exists. The key is how we empathize with our neighbors.

Too many people tried to justify George Floyd’s death by pointing at his troubled past, his criminal record, his drug use, and even the body cam footage from his arrest.

The truth is: what happened to George Floyd cannot be justified. Any attempt to do so is ugly and evil-hearted.

Others look at the Hinnant tragedy and try to defend the absence of outrage. They point out the differences in the cases, they point to the outrage of conservatives as evidence that white privilege exists. They fear that saying “All lives matter” will detract from black lives.

But in its most elemental form, tragedy is tragedy. Injustice is injustice.

We should be equally grieved by both of these deaths. Because they were human deaths.

Infinite Justice

Justice is not a zero-sum game. All injustice hurts. All tragedy is painful. We can’t continue in our race to the bottom to see who’s oppressed the most and thus worthy of justice. Does my pain mean nothing because it isn’t “as bad” as a black American’s pain? Does their pain not mean anything in comparison to a political prisoner in North Korea?

We don’t need to rank pain, injustice and tragedy. We can care about it all.

I recently wrote about our nation’s dangerous lack of nuance. But some things aren’t as nuanced as we make them out to be.

Murder is wrong and tragic. Period. Black and white (no pun intended).

It doesn’t matter who is killed or who does the killing. We should be grieved by it and seek justice.

Black victims of police brutality don’t need to get their past dragged up to justify their deaths.

We don’t need to blast white people for their ‘privilege’ and ‘fragility’ when they demand outrage for a child murdered in cold blood.

In the words of Marvin Olasky, we must listen and empathize with “both sides now“.

Furthermore, we can rejoice in the truth that our God has an infinite capacity for bearing our pain and he is infinitely just. He will bring everything right in the end. He will deliver justice for all, without partiality. Our Father is just and he cares for every one of his children: “red and yellow, black or white”.