Justice by Langston Hughes may be a
short poem, but it is a powerful poem. It is comprised of four lines that are
made of a mere twenty six words. In those twenty six words is a message that is
big enough to represent an entire era of struggle, hate, and inequality.
Hughes
begins his poem by calling Justice a “blind goddess.” In classic mythology gods
and goddesses are known to be removed from the humans, only showing themselves for
selfish reasons such as self-glorification, “jumping on the good foot and doing
the bad thing” (as quoted from the great philosopher Austin Powers), and to
spite fellow gods. One can contend that Hughes is making the statement that
justice is removed from the Black peoples, especially in the south. Hughes also
describes this removed justice as “blind,” indicating that justice is not just
removed from the Black Americans but is also ignorant to this fact. Those who
claim to be on the side of justice are far removed from what they claim to
uphold and are not even aware of their fallacy. This statement is followed by a
line that indicates that the people who are aware of this discrimination are
the people who are being discriminated against.
Lines
three and four further the assertion that justice is blind, indicating that
justice not only has a bandage covering its eyes, but the eyes are not even
there anymore, they have become festering sores. What people claim to be justice
is so far removed from the real thing that even if it wanted to change and be
restored to what justice is actually supposed to be, it would be a difficult,
if not impossible thing to accomplish. Justice is still blind, but maybe Hughes
would be happy with the progress that it has made.
Shailja Patel’s ICC Kenya Trails: Witness is a poem
about a witness who was blinded by an attacker. The witness asks several
questions to gain to try and understand why she was left alive and why she was
blinded. She seeks justice to come to the attacker but believes that it will
not because she cannot identify who it was. With no sight she has no case. The
means of the justice that would come to the attacker is now blind, and thus the
justice is removed.
I like the comments you make about justice being blind. There are many people who would argue that justice never had any eyesight. What I really wonder is why people believe in something such as perfect justice, as if imperfect mankind would ever get something as weighty as justice right all the time. Can we really believe in such a thing? I think Hughes would like the progress too, but the idea of absolute justice, or justice as it's supposed to be...I'd go with impossible for that too.
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