Page 4-Friday, June 20, 1980-The Michigan Daily Opinions The Michigan faly Ninety Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan , Illinois defeat tragic for ERA I T IS TRAGIC that such a basic guarantee of equality should fall prey to the political mangling that the ERA has faced in the 60 years since the amendment was first proposed. Wednesday's losing ERA vote in the Illinois House of Representatives casts a gloomy shadow over prospects for ERA ratification. A success in Illinois would have been a strong show of support that could have had major influence in unratified states. But now, those Americans who believe the law should treat both sexes equally face an almost impossible task of convincing three more states to ratify the amendment in the next two years-before a June, 1982 deadline. In Illinois-the only northern industrial state that has not ratified the amendment-the ERA has been the victim of alleged vote buying and political bargaining. The Illinois House has defeated the amendment seven times, and the Senate has refused to approve the amendment four times. Both chambers have ratified the era once, but the positive votes were not consecutive. The problems in Illinois are indicative of the hassles the amendment has encountered. Plagued by constant lies and half-truths from opponents, supporters of equality have had an upward fight. Anti-abortion and anti-gay forces have rallied against the amendment, spreading horror stories of what might happen if the law required that men and women be treated equally. The ludicrous statements of ERA opponents that passage of the amendment would annihilate family life would seem to suggest that sex discrimination is the cor- nerstone of the American family. During this crisis period for the ERA, it is im- perative that the public-which, according to opinion polls favors the amendment two- to- one -elects leaders who will not be swayed by ridiculous propaganda and will instead translate this public statement into quick ratification. 7EY,BABE! A300N AYOU FINN WA"IN'T'DISES, DON'THE LAUDRY AN MEDIN( MY WK5-BRIMNE E ANOTER BEER AND ILL TEL YOU WY WE DON'T SUPPORT T' EQUAL - - .,RC NTSAMEDMENT! 0 0 q Blacks' anger exploded wnen the legai system-often the only support open to minorues-netrayen nem in Miami. Blacks trust jstieo American legal system, America is one of the few countries in the world where a By Joel Dreyfuss court decision can provokea race law has also served to diminish riot. The fact that an all-white the importance of black leaders. jury's decision to acquit four When blacks were held in subser- white policemen in the death of a vience by law, black leaders black insurance salesman could emerged to argue the moral and trigger the country's worst racial legal contraditctions of American incident in more than a decade is society. The struggle was unified testament to the in its opposition to an inferior remarkable-almost naive- status for blacks which was an faith that black Americans have obvious contradiction of the in the law. ideals of the U.S. Constitution. Many blacks view the law as BUT AS INCREASING, num- their only protection against bers of blacks came under the racism in America. They have no umbrella of constitutional gover- illusions that justice in America nment, the role of black leader- is meted out equally to all races ship became more diffused-and and classes. But since the 1960s less effective. The conflict bet- blacks have come to expect our ween white privilege and black legal institutions to make some demands could be arbitrated in reasonable efforts towards the the courts. When legislators ideal of equal justice. lacked the courage to confront THE LAW HAS been the most racial issues, the courts became effective tool in the struggle for the arbitrator of last resort. equality in the last two decades. There were no illusions about Laws and legal decisions made it the quality of justice in the cour- possible for blacks to vote, to ts, particularly at the local level. elect each other to office, to at- The average black man or tend integrated schools, to move woman who came into contact out of ghettos, to eat, drink, dand with the court system quickly sleep where they want, even to noticed its peculiar racial use public toilets. ' characteristics. In most jurisdic- A complex fabric of Supreme tions, the judges, lawyers, court Court decisions, federal employees and law enforcement legislation, executive decrees officials were all white. The and administrative orders has defendants were primarily black. enabled most blacks to live in a But even when injustice was manner which approximates dispensed in a blatant manner, rights taken for granted by the the black community could inter- white middle class. Just as the pret the event as an individual Brown decision of 1954 outlawed problem: a racist judge, an the apartheid system that inadequate defense or some other operated in the American South, explanation. There was always the racial struggle in the 1960s the sense of an ability to appeal to was shaped by a series of higher authority: state appeals Supreme Court decisions that ex- courts, federal courts, or the U.S. panded the ability to blacks to Supreme Court itself. At some compete for jobs, to live in in- point, the defendants expected to tegrated neighborhoods, and to find justice. That is why move closer to full citizenship. In American prisons have a unique the 1970s, the same pattern breed of jailhouse lawyers who prevailed. The DeFunis, Bakke keep their law books next to the and Weber Supreme Court Bible or the Koran. decisions were at the heart of a THE KILLING OF Arthur Mc- fundamental struggle over the Duffie has special importance to distribution of economic and Miami blacks because he was a educational opportunities. member of the black middle ~The-pendence on the role of class. The fact that his case went to trial when other reports of brutality did not had a great deal to do with class. But if McDuffie could not get justice from the legal system, what hope could there be for the men and women at the bottom? When the legal fabric collapsed and McDuffie's alleged killers were set loose, the fragile hopes of the underclass were shattered. The myth that justice would prevail-at least for those who had lifted -them- selves up from the lowest rungs of our society-had been proven false. Confronted with this reality, blacks in Miami reacted by retreating to the rage and fear which is their legacy in America. Those blacks whom the news media regularly anoint as leaders have spent much of the last decade warning of unrest and inequities in our society. But they have been ignored. Now, white Americans must, acknowledge that the legal system is all that stands between -them and the frustrations of blacks. BLACK'S FAITH in the law may well be the reason why in the last few decades of racial struggle in this country there has been relatively little bloodletting compared with so many other countries in the world torn apart by civil strife. In the last ten. years blacks have been able to make the justice system more responsive by integrating it or by acquiring enough political power to change it. In Detroit, for example, a police force that was six per cent black in 1967 is now 40 per cent black, primarily because the black mayor, Coleman Young, made a change in the police force's composition a priority. Joel Dreyfuss is the editor of Black Enterprise magazine. He wrote this article for Pacific Ne wsSerice....._ 4 4