The Law

We read a book about Frederick Douglas today. It was mostly about how he spent his childhood and how he learned to read. The illustrator did a beautiful job of conveying the humanity of the enslaved people. When Frederick is being transported to Baltimore, there's a picture of a napping man, holding one end of the rope. Frederick's arms are tied together with the rope, behind his back, but he's gazing out at the harbor, taking in the sights like any kid does when they go to a new place. A slave was a real person, not an era. A kid, who was separated from his mom at birth, who was valued enough for his work to keep him tied up, but not enough to properly feed or clothe or teach. Laurel cried at the picture and hid her face. She knows about slavery, but in a very sanitized way. I decided that we needed to start reading a little more about history, especially American history and examine the the things that have changed over time. Kind of a rabbit hole and hard to know where exactly to start, but if I don't just dive in a little deeper, then I'll never get anywhere with this. I decided that given current events, it would be best to examine what exactly we mean by equal rights guaranteed by the constitution, and political borders.

We started with our neighborhood and how it is called different things and has changed over time. We can walk a mile and be in 4 different city/boroughs, some lines run right through the houses themselves. We talked about the parking law. No parking in Swissvale in the early morning hours, for street cleaning. No parking in Pittsburgh on the second Tuesday of the month. It's arbitrary. Laws and maps are not set in stone. They are designed by humans in an attempt to keep some sort of order. Or to make money, which sometimes results in oppression and mistreatment of some other people.

Frederick Douglass was breaking the law when he learned to read. His "master" was following the law as it stood at the time. So, when you live in a community, it can be good to follow the law, but it's never good to simply follow a law without thinking what it means for everybody.

Here is the constitution of the United States. When I read it from the beginning, I can imagine what it would be like to start a new country or organization. How you try to write out how things should go, but knowing you really can't anticipate all the problems. The language makes me cringe. I remember that I wouldn't have been allowed to cast a vote.