Week 6

In this week’s reading, Lisa Tessman, Chapter 5 from Burdened Virtues: Virtue Ethics for Liberatory Struggles, Tessman explores the concept of virtue in oppression. Tessman goes on to explain that a person who may be oppressed will have a harder time maintaining virtue.

“Political resisters thus face one vulnerability when they are led to commit certain acts because of unjust circumstances, just like in Aristotle’s case of doing what the tyrant orders to save one’s family. But another vulnerability arises from the pressure to develop certain traits that are called for only because they are the traits needed for facing and fighting injustice.”

Tessman further explains this when mentioned in “Sarah MacDonald and Nicole Symmonds’ “Rioting as Flourishing? Reconsidering Virtue Ethics in Times of Civil Unrest”.

“As traditionally conceived, a riot is an act of civil disorder characterized by the assembly of a group or individuals who lash out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve a mixture of vandalism, destruction of public property, and what is perceived as a general level of chaos and violence.”

“ Tessman, the value of this non-ideal theory is that it serves to illuminate ‘how deeply depriving, damaging, and dehumanizing oppression can be” I understand Tessman’s point, but I do not completely agree that those being oppressed justify some actions such as rioting. I believe that an oppressed group can make a point without violence. But I also understand why they would believe that rioting is the only option after peacefully protesting and not being heard. Being able to understand and recognize a problem will help better asses it, but I don’t believe violence is the answer and still does not justify the actions taken. This reminds me of when the Black Lives Matter movement was happening and there were riots in Atlanta destroying small businesses, hurting innocent civilians, and messing with public properties.

A point can be made without violence, Martin Luther King is a great example of this. He was a well-known civil rights activist who led the movement with peace. His walk to Selma was a massive movement of peace that got the point across. I think that in today’s modern world, we should take some steps back to revise the certain situation at hand and provide aid before violence has to be taken, preventing it from happening in the first place and following king’s steps of peace.