“Needless to say, the history of the United States has been marred from its inception by an enormous quantity of unjust laws, far too many expressly bolstering the oppression of Black people. Particularized reflections of existing social inequities, these laws have repeatedly borne witness to the exploitative and racist core of the society itself. For Blacks, Chicanos, for all nationally oppressed people, the problem of opposing unjust laws and the social conditions which nourish their growth, has always had immediate practical implications. Our very survival has frequently been a direct function of our skill in forging effective channels of resistance. In resisting, we have sometimes been compelled to openly violate those laws which directly or indirectly buttress our oppression. But even when containing our resistance within the orbit of legality, we have been labeled criminals and have been methodically persecuted by a racist legal apparatus.”
If They Come in The Morning (1971)
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Angela Davis 55
American political activist, scholar, and author 1944Related quotes
An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution (1787).
“An unjust law is no law at all.”
On Free Choice Of The Will, Book 1, § 5
“A unjust law, is no law at all.”
Source: Bibelausgaben, Die Bibel nach der Übersetzung Martin Luthers, mit Apokryphen, Neue Rechtschreibung, Schwarz
"No Religion is an Island", p. 264
Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays (1997)
“An unjust law is itself a species of violence.”
Non-Violence in Peace & War (1962) Vol. 2, edited by Mahadev Haribhai Desai, p. 144
Posthumous publications (1950s and later)
Context: An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so. Now the law of nonviolence says that violence should be resisted not by counter-violence but by nonviolence. This I do by breaking the law and by peacefully submitting to arrest and imprisonment.
“A good many people today feel our present draft laws are unjust. These people are called soldiers.”
"An Editorial: Are Our Draft Laws Unfair?", The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, unidentified episode
Featured in Pat Paulsen for President (1968), part 2 of 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbP0ufyax5A&feature=relmfu, 02:42 ff (11:42 ff in full program)
Alternative version archived at "Should Television Shows Be Censored?" http://www.paulsen.com/censor.html, Paulsen.com, October 29, 1967
Context: A good many people today feel our present draft laws are unjust. These people are called soldiers. In one of the arguments against the draft, we hear it is unfair, immoral, discourages young men from studying, ruins their careers and their lives. Picky, picky, picky! We propose a draft lottery, in which the names of all eligible males will be put into a hat, and the men will be drafted according to their hat sizes. The tiny heads will go into the military service, and the fat heads will go into government.
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
“Laws that oppress people have no moral authority.”
Human Rights in the Use of Software and Other Published Works (16 May 2007)]
2000s