Dark Ghettos Essay

3. In Tommie Shelby’s book, “Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform,” he argues that residents of dark ghettos do not have the same civic obligation as citizens who reside outside of these ghettos do because civic obligations are rooted in reciprocity and the residents of dark ghettos are disenfranchised and discriminated against to the point that they are not receiving the benefits and protections that they should from society. I completely agree with Shelby’s position, I don’t think that those who are severely oppressed have to comply with civic duties because these duties often times are used to perpetuate their oppression and because by disregarding societal norms and laws the oppressed can force the society to change for the better and become more egalitarian. In his book, Shelby discusses how there is a seemingly endless cycle of violence in ghettos that only seems to further crime and oppression. He writes, “The illegal drug market, so common in black urban neighborhoods, engenders drug-related violence and invites organized crime,” (203), and …show more content…
Natural Law theorists argue that moral standards are based on the objective nature of the world and that legal standards derive their authority from these moral standards. Aquinas argues that law is, “Nothing else than an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by him who has the care of the community.” This is very similar to Austin’s command theory, in which laws are commands by a sovereign to citizens, and commands are orders that are backed up by threats. The difference here is that the sovereign can only give orders to their citizens if they are a good person. Aquinas argues that just laws are consistent with natural law and are thus unbreakable, but unjust laws are inconsistent with natural law and are thus