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PARTISAN REVIEW
It is important to always realize that we have a very special relation–
ship to the poetic and the rational, since the conception of rights is itself a
poetic thing, while the social organization of law arrived at through de–
bate, or adjusted through one version or another of the amendment,
presumes the eventual victory of reason over limited vision. The very
idea of rights moves away from the absolutes of force that we observe in
the natural world, where pecking orders almost always are established by
strength. The vision of rights is one of compassion and is what has led our
nation to make the difficult changes that allow the weak as much access
to the benefits of our society as possible. Following that, it seems to me
that one of the highest points in all of Western history was the develop–
ment of the Abolition Movement, which arrived at a time when there
were none of the scientific discoveries in place that now so easily refute
the bases of racial prejudice. The Abolitionists were able to see more and
more clearly through the superficial differences in skin color, physiog–
nomy, and hair texture, recognizing that a portion of humanity had been
immorally bought and sold through the institution of bondage. In a very
real way that poetic vision of rights and of humanity anticipated scientific
truth. As that movement grew, the debate over slavery became one of the
most dramatic in our history and led, finally, to the bloodiest war this na–
tion has ever fought. That very war between the states shows us another
tragic aspect of our history and proves that however much we may be
committed to the rational winning out over the irrational, we must also
accept the cruel truth that sometimes there is no other way to deal with
the irrational outside of literal war - the killing, dismembering, wound–
ing, and maiming of the opposition in the interest of greater freedom.
It
is
highly doubtful that the Founding Fathers ever foresaw such a bloody
conflict over the issue of slavery, but since the very existence of the
United States could arrive only through those same means, it was a logical
evolution of the values that they themselves had shed blood for. Men like
George Washington knew the literal meanings of blood, sweat, and tears.
They had heard the cries of battle and the cries afterward. The road to
frredom is slick and sticky with blood and flesh.
A close examination of the Abolition Movement itself reveals that
only a small number of its members were actually committed to universal
humanity and that Negro Americans had to struggle within the move–
ment for recognition of their entire humanity. That is but another
example of how our finest ideas are not always fully appreciated by those
who think that they are speaking for the best kind of social evolution. At
the same time, we have to recognize - let me say this once more - that
ideas within our nation are things that evolve on the basis of engagement
and debate. We rarely have anything delivered to us in a perfect fonn and
