#equal citizenship

Equality before the law is one of the basic principles of a free society. It means that every citizen enters the legal system with the same basic standing. The law does not treat a person as more guilty, more innocent, more believable, more suspicious, more deserving, or less deserving because of race, sex, religion, class, ancestry, political tribe, or social status. The law deals with persons,…

June is coming, which means the machinery will start again. The flags. The emails. The school bulletin boards. The corporate logos. The municipal proclamations. The HR language. The social media badges. The rainbow email signatures. The familiar little suggestion that anyone who declines the ritual must be hiding some moral defect. That is exactly why Pride needs civic proportion. Not abolition.…

Too many land acknowledgements are not acknowledgements anymore. They are rituals of submission with nicer stationery. Everyone knows the form. Before the meeting, concert, lecture, school assembly, or conference begins, someone reads a solemn paragraph about the land. The tone is reverent. The words are familiar. The effect is usually deadening. Nobody is supposed to argue with it. Nobody is…