Professors discuss society's definitions of citizenship

Examining the life and work of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., several University professors discussed society's views of citizenship at a panel discussion Friday. The discussion, "Perspectives on Citizenship," was sponsored in advance of today's School of Arts and Sciences celebrations in commemoration of King's life and Martin Luther King Day. The panel's four members began the discussion by examining King's views of citizenship. Law and History Professor Bruce Mann -- the panel's moderator -- encouraged the audience to respect King as a thinker and to understand the different perspectives of his thoughts. Describing King as "deeply rooted in African American Christian tradition," History Professor Robert Engs added that King's definition of citizenship was "intermixed with the definition freed slaves had of freedom, including the rights to education, politics, economics and free association." Engs noted "an ironic contrast" between King's philosophy and that of President John Kennedy, contrasting Kennedy's motto of "ask not what my country can do for me, but what I can do for my country" with King's theory of "there are things my country should be doing for me." The panel summarized King's philosophy as the belief in the moral obligation of a citizen to take nonviolent action to force the government to live up to rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Engs stressed King's view that "citizenship transcends race," adding that "King concluded it was among the duties of citizenship to speak out against injustices against everyone, not just African Americans." Political Science Professor Anne Norton focused on society's duty to fulfill the promises King stated in his famous "I Have A Dream" speech in order to become an ideal nation. "America is not what we have but what we lack," Norton said. "We as citizens have a calling not to be loyal to our history but to overcome it." Drawing upon the medieval European concept that "society carved order out of chaos and order is membership," Provost Stanley Chodorow -- whose academic work centers on the historical origins of law -- described a citizen as an "independent actor owing higher allegiance." When Henry II of England had a "stroke of genius that created common law in 1164," Chodorow explained, individuals gained a voice in their government and the idea of representational government was born. This theory, that "what touches all ought to be approved by all," became a central theme in conceptions of citizenship. History Professor Lee Cassanelli pointed to recent struggles in equatorial Africa and Somalia as examples of "recurring tension between the desire for local autonomy and the desire for security." Cassanelli contrasted that idea with King's conception of an activist federal government, adding that many Africans "seek autonomous freedom, dignity and all things one identifies with citizenship." "Dr. King looked to the federal government to live up to the promise of equal rights," Cassanelli said. Mann condensed the professors' four perspectives on citizenship as a mission to "realize the promised nation through the notion of common law." When an audience member asked about society's current role in citizenship, Engs answered that we "have retreated a good deal from the expectations Dr. King had." "'The hills are more separate now' as we tend to throw up our hands and say the problems are impermeable," he said. "The habit of celebrating someone like Dr. King who we liken to a God lets us off the hook."