Systems
of Aggression:
A Reversal of Effort
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Some years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., seeing the many obstacles that were deliberately placed in the way of African Americans, stated that systems of aggression have been set up against us. He was correct then, and we are correct now to say that those systems, while not as strong and blatant as before, are still constructs of American society.
A San Francisco County Superior Court Judge reduced the Wonder Bread verdict to a fraction of the amount awarded to the 21 defendants by the jury for the abuses they had suffered at Wonder Bread.
The long and hard- fought battle by these 21 defendants and their attorneys brought this large bakery to terms with their continuing violations of human and civil rights. The indignities suffered by these plaintiffs were an outrage to a jury hearing the case, but not to the judge, who reduced the judgment.
We agree with the plaintiffs' attorney when she said that it is a shame for a judge to reverse the ruling of a jury who heard the case and was outraged by the corporate conduct of Wonder Bread.And now a federal court has placed more discretionary power that is most likely to become discriminatory power.
Indeed, systems of aggression are set up in
America, but those systems should not extend further into our court system.
