Social Justice Is a Goal and Process

Lee Anne Bell defined social justice as a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable, and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Following this definition, I believe it is not possible to achieve absolute equal distribution of resources for all members, but it is a goal that society moves towards.

The opposite of social justice is social injustice, which can be caused by many reasons. One of the most obvious reasons is that economic and political power is unbalanced. By Newton's theory, a particle will keep on moving if an unbalanced force exists. When a perfect balance force exists, millions of planets and stars in all galaxies will stay in their perfect spots and run at accurate speed. That may not be possible. In Theoretical Foundations, Bell writes, "Social justice is a complex web of relationships and structures, and is a fusion of institutional and systemic discrimination, personal bias, bigotry and social prejudice . . . (Bell 22). These factors make it impossible to achieve an absolute equal society. However, the unbalanced force brought by injustice becomes a motivating force to drive towards a balanced situation. A popular saying in China states, wherever oppression is, there is anti-oppression. By the same reasoning, wherever injustice is, there are people fighting for justice. Justice is society's goal, and we are pursuing it.

The speed of achieving social justice is variable, depending on how much people participate in the struggle to achieve it. A very important step is to let people know they live in an unjust society, because most people do not clearly realize that. A patient wouldn't go through treatment until he/she knows he/she is sick. I did not clearly realized that I stereotyped people, and was stereotyped by other people until after I watched the show "N*gger Wetb*ch Ch*nk". After knowing what situation we are in, we can take action. An accessible and powerful weapon is the vote. I met an American Chinese politician in the Beijing airport in 2007. He told me, "If you want to gain your equal rights, you need to vote. Whenever you vote, the political candidates will consider your benefits and rights." Besides voting, there are other activities that are important, such as, writing letters to politicians, participating in community activities, joining a rally, or even organizing a new party.

Just as it is important to study what factors cause a patient to be sick. It is important to study how oppression works against social injustice. Su Zi , a famous Chinese military strategist, wrote in Art of War, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat." We need to know how oppression works before we can react properly.

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