Alchemical Notes: Reconstructing Ideals from Deconstructed Rights

ALCHEMICAL NOTES: RECONSTRUCTING IDEALS FROM DECONSTRUCTED RIGHTS

Patricia J. Williams*

I. A Bit of CLS Mythodology

A. The Meta-Story
  • Celestial City Creation: A society of priests build a Celestial City with gates secured by Word-Combination locks.
  • Mastery of the Word: The priests, masters of the Word, created ascending power and treasure accessible through intricate levels of Word Magic.
  • Attainment of Godhood: At the highest level, priests become gods but tire of meaningless sport, turning to exploration.
  • The Deep Blue Sea: After rejecting the pursuits in the Celestial City, they set sail on small boats into the uncharted Deep Blue Sea, beyond the reach of words.
  • Realization of Meaning: The City appears as an illusion from their new perspective, allowing them to reclaim a sense of godhood.
B. The Story
  • Suffering Mortals Below: Beneath the Celestial City, mortals endure suffering and hopelessness, reaching out for anchors that represent potential lifelines.
  • Reaction to CLS: Patricia Williams reflects on her experiences and those in CLS, particularly how they relate to the power dynamics in legal systems.

II. Personal Reflections on CLS

A. Personal Experience
  • First Job Reflections: Williams recalls her early days in law, juxtaposing her privileged position as a lawyer with the desperate conditions of defendants, mostly from poor and minority backgrounds.
  • Lawyer as a God: Clients often see lawyers as saviors due to their perceived power and control over their legal destinies.
  • Power Dynamics: Lawyers wield substantial influence in shaping legal strategies that impact the oppressed, highlighting a power imbalance.
B. Rights vs. Needs
  • Critique of CLS: Williams critiques how CLS often dismisses rights-based theories, questioning the applicability of traditional legal frameworks to the struggles of minorities.
  • Differing Perspectives on Rights: Illustrates contrasting experiences of blacks and whites concerning rights—where rights could symbolize oppression for some, they represent hope and empowerment for others.
  • Need for Rights Assertion: For many black individuals, rights assertion has become a method for gaining visibility and self-worth in a system designed to deny them these aspects.

III. Two Stories to Explore the Rights Dialogue

A. Mini-Story: Trust in Real Estate
  • Contrasting Experiences: Williams discusses her experience in finding accommodation compared to her friend's (Peter Gabel), emphasizing different truths in trust for black and white individuals.
    • Peter's Informality: Peter illustrates a form of trust where informal agreements suffice; Williams critiques this as not universally applicable.
    • Williams' Contractual Engagement: She expresses that formal arrangements (like leases) signify a protection mechanism for trust, especially in a racially biased society.
B. Meta-Mini-Story: Understanding Rights Discourse
  • Need for Mutual Understanding: The urgency of recognizing how different communities interpret rights needs for deeper recognition and understanding.
  • Symbol and Experience: Marks the need to navigate these complex labyrinths of societal narratives to better articulate each other's experiences and rights needs.

IV. The Alchemy of Rights in Black Lives

A. Historical Context
  • Historical Inequality: Williams discusses the legacies of disenfranchisement and how the concepts of rights have evolved but remain tenuous for black individuals.
  • Disempowerment through Language: She emphasizes the complexities involved in legal languages and the often sidelined narratives of black experiences concerning rights.
B. Narrative of Need vs. Rights
  • The Futile Pursuit of Needs: Williams argues that articulating needs has historically been a failure in achieving political advancement for blacks, as needs often go ignored or misrepresented.
    • Rights as a Vehicle for Self-Assertion: Proposes that rights rhetoric is essential for conveying disempowerment and delineating the individuality necessary for asserting one's identity in society.

V. Individual vs. Collective Rights

A. The Social Contracts of Rights
  • Intersection of Personal and Collective Narratives: Linking individual rights to broader societal implications, emphasizing how perceptions of rights can illuminate or obscure collective experiences.
  • Rights as Necessities: Suggesting that discourses surrounding rights must shift beyond reification to genuinely incorporate the voices and needs of those historically marginalized.

VI. Conclusion: The Ongoing Struggle for Rights

  • Activism: The call for active engagement in redefining rights to expand to all members of society—human and non-human.
  • Transformation through Understanding: Williams closes on the importance of recognizing the complexity of rights and advocating for an encompassing view that considers all entities deserving of rights, thus fostering a more inclusive future.

*Associate Professor of Law, CUNY Law School at Queens College, deeply indebted to community and academic influences including Carol Williams, Richard Delgado, and Derrick and Jewell Bell.