Chapter 44
No Compromise Between Good and Evil
"Wait a moment, I have it somewhere around here," offered James as he scrounged around in the study for the paper he was looking for. "I know I placed it here somewhere. It looks like someone moved around the papers in the desk drawers." William C. sat down with a glass of water in his hand. He took a sip and then another.
"What would be the best accomplishment for black people, the black race? You believe a black lawyer but you're wrong. Abolition is heaven on earth," mused William C.
"Just a moment, just a moment....I found it. The case for a black lawyer. Rev. Givens nailed it at my father's funeral. And I quote:
All Honor to Theodore M. Scott
[He saw a need for education. And he began to fill the need at home. At a time when most sons of Africa were slaves and a troubled ten percent worked with their hands as free men, Ted Scott believed in educating his son for a profession of the mind. He had no examples of colored professionals around him, only the vision all professions should be open to all men. When cautioned the world was not ready for educated black men, he would say the world is ready because we are ready. We are ready for the coming of a better time. ]
"We honor my father as we set our aim high in life," concluded James with a sense of transforming resolve.
William C. collected his thoughts, his contrary nature bubbling to the surface as his neurons began firing away in anticipation of the battle ahead. He was not at peace. This whole movement coalescing behind a colored lawyer felt wrong. The underlying premises did not hold up. He waited until James took a seat before pleading his case.
"James, no one questions the undeniable bravery and courage of your father. I predict, one day, there will be a monument to Theodore Moore Scott on Beacon Hill. If we judge the exalted by the strength of character, your father approached God-like status among some and you know that already."
"And I know there's a but..."
William C. cracked a smile.
"Nowhere in the timeless eulogy to a great man did I hear the word 'lawyer' or 'attorney.' Double-check the language." James briefly scanned the words. William C. was right. "So, what might be a suitable profession for the colored man? A colored man could be a clerk for the Harbor Commission or a dry goods firm or a slaughterhouse. I would support that. There is nothing odious in filling out forms for a living. A honest day's pay for an honest day's work. A colored clerk could be a bank clerk. I can hear my mother now proclaiming we need more colored people in the money professions. And she would be right. A colored man could be a college professor. That would elevate the race. It is noble, honorable work and I would support it.
The premise behind breaking the color line in the law is flawed. Number one, all lawyers must swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Since 1789, the Constitution has been a slave document. What kind of a colored man would swear an oath to a slave document?
Number two, no abolitionist should swear fealty to a slave document.
"But William C., that's short-sighted. But for abolitionist lawyers, the fugitive slaves would be friendless here in Boston."
"I don't care. There must be no compromise with evil. There is no compromise between good and evil. Evil always corrupts the good."
"But we have to live in the world as it is. And the world includes slavery. We fight it through the legal system, not separating ourselves from the legal system."
Number three, a black lawyer would starve. Blacks would not want to be associated with a black lawyer who would presumably suffer from color prejudice at every turn, in and out, of the courtroom. Whites would not want to be associated with a black lawyer whom they would assume inferior and better suited to hewing potatoes.
"William C., you've got to be positive. Even if what you say is true, we don't give in to the prejudices of others. You know that."
"What better elevates the race, a starving colored lawyer or a prosperous bank clerk? Think about it, brother. All that glitters is not gold."
"Once a pioneer breaks through, then a second colored lawyer will follow and then a third and pretty soon those prejudices will die but the prejudices won't die off if no one every tries."
Number four, the fallacy of good intentions. You presume the best outcome but isn't it equally true that a bad outcome could come, that the disappointments of despair and poverty could sour colored people on aiming higher. There are a lot of content colored carpenters out there who would eagerly say, 'I told you so,' when the first colored lawyer declares bankruptcy and ends up in the poorhouse. You know the type."
"Don't you know that most men of business fail about three times before they succeed?"
"Where did you pull that statistic from?" questioned William C.
"My father used to say that."
Number five, and this circles back to arguments 1 and 2, what do you do barrister James Moore Scott if a fugitive slave is captured? He solicits you for representation because you are a colored man and understands colored oppression. Do you represent the fugitive in court? And, if so and if you lose, do you allow the U.S. Marshall to return a fugitive slave to slavery as an officer of the court? Well, do you?"
"I haven't thought it out. I must uphold the law, otherwise, I could be disbarred."
"Exactly, exactly. You're in an impossible situation as a colored lawyer. Your every heartbeat will yearn for freedom as you watch your client returned to the land of shackles and chains, senseless floggings against oak trees and screams for death so that the pain will stop. I like you too much as a friend for you to place yourself in that horrific situation."
"So, mister genius, what's the answer?"
"Hold your powder dry. Become a clerk for a trade firm. Become a preacher. But do not become a lawyer until the U.S. Constitution is a document of freedom. Do you hear me!"
"I hear you but I'm not going to wait. Too much is at stake. Too many colored people are rooting for me. Too many have no hope for elevation but they can look at me and feel they are along for the rise into a better freedom, a better time."
William C. was incensed. He had made logical arguments. James had not destroyed any of the premises against a colored lawyer. James was operating out of some collective duty, collective obligation in his mind. It was one thing for a white abolitionist to disagree. It was quite a different thing to lose an argument with another free colored man.
William C. stood up and offered this parting argument. "Throughout history, the oppressed have always starved for elevation. Little thought has been given to the underside of reaching beyond one's grasp. Bragging rights, and little else, will be your companion on this journey. "
"I've heard enough, William C. I need singular focus, not naysayers around me. Please leave."
William G. removed himself from the study. He paused as if to apologize but his intellect got the better of him.
"Get out now," ordered James. William G. left the front door open as he said good-day to James' mother returning home from the barbershop. Her right hand remained bandaged.