This article was written by Maggie Wagner,
iACT Communication and Development Specialist
I have attended many Red Bench conversations, as a participant, an observer, and even as a host. I always find the candor with which my fellow attendees express themselves to be admirable. When I found myself engaged in iACT’s most recent Red Bench conversation, I was once again pleased to experience the kind of honesty that one rarely finds in everyday life. This was a special Red Bench because the participants were mostly students from Iraq who have come to the US for the summer through the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program, a special leadership program sponsored by the US Department of State. Many concerns facing humanity are universal, but this particular RB conversation reminded me that individual experiences vary drastically depending on what part of the world you come from.
Our topic of conversation for the afternoon was Justice, and those sitting at my table had plenty to say on the topic. While listening to these young students’ comments, I was struck by the fact that their understanding of justice was markedly different from my own. They clearly had spent long hours contemplating the topic, and those contemplations were directly influenced by real-world experiences of injustice. One student observed that, “A country’s sense of justice comes from the energy of the government”. Another noted that, “You have to have power to get justice, and nobody has always used their power for good”. These statements both rang true to me, yet I had never fully considered the truth of them before.
Having grown up as a white person in the US, justice has always situated itself in my mind as an inalienable right; I expect, in all situations, for justice to ultimately be served. Certainly there may be some obstacles to overcome on the journey toward justice, but I have always assumed that in the end, justice will prevail. Those sitting at my table, however, had clearly grown up in a world where justice was far from a given.
Upon the conversation’s conclusion, I was left feeling deeply thankful for having lived the life that I have, and I was even more thankful for having gotten a chance to listen to these Iraqi students. They reminded me that, even if your personal sense of justice is currently being satisfied, there are many other places and people around the world who are struggling to find the justice they deserve. It’s easy to become complacent when lack of justice isn’t staring you directly in the face, but that doesn’t mean injustice isn’t out there. If there was one thing I learned while listening to the Iraqi students speak about their personal experiences with justice, it is that we must remain ever-vigilant, continuously assessing our own actions, and the actions of those in power, to ensure that justice remains a constant in our daily lives.
