Southern Issues
by Charles Yow

"The quest for Social Justice is not a cause, it is the basic element of life. Those who yield to the tyranny of a superior sovereign and fail to stand for that which is right and just today, are doomed to suffer tomorrow as the horror of their inaction bears fruit."

I had always thought this was a famous quote. It should be, but was a quote from one of Charles graduate studies papers. The power and passion in the statement is pure Charles.

Charles was a firm believer in the Constitution. He taught a Legal Skills class at Loyola Law School, his Alma Mater, and the title of the class was Defending Controversial clients. I had the pleasure of attending the class and the basis of the class was Constitutional Law. It is amazing to imagine that everyone has the same rights, no matter what their beliefs. It can indeed be maddening when someone perceived as racist has the right to free speech when their speech is intended to hurt others.

Charles believed deeply in the Constitution and defended a few issues that would seem controversial to anyone who might be on the other side of the debate. A case in point would be when he defended the rights of Cherokee students in Lawrence, Alabama to wear confederate flags on their t-shirts.

This is not to say that Charles would defend anyone. He did have his limits as to who he could defend in good conscience, and he refused to defend anyone who would harm a woman or a child. His favorite clients were those who walked a fine line between what society deems good and bad, sometimes criminals whose rights included "packing heat," and very often, activist clients who fought for justice all over the world.

All of Charles writings make good reading, and there is a lot to be learned in all of it, including that we cannot judge others based solely on our own experience. This is as true for how non-natives feel about the mascot issue as it is about how northerners feel about the Confederate flag. In the end, the Constitutional Rights of all must be upheld.