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ever , the girl ’ s father was left handed and known to have a very bad temper . Further , no medical evidence was introduced that showed the girl was ever raped .
Jem was elated until the verdict came . After several hours of deliberation the jury found Tom Robinson guilty . Jem was crushed at the obvious injustice . Atticus explained to the distraught Jem that a jury would usually take only a few minutes to convict Tom — a black man accused of raping a white woman . But this jury took hours .
“ You might like to know that there was one fellow who took considerable wearing down — in the beginning he was rarin ’ for an outright acquittal .” “ Who ?” Jem was astonished . Atticus ’ s eyes twinkled . “ It ’ s not for me to say , but I ’ ll tell you this much . He was one of your Old Sarum friends …”
“ One of the Cunninghams ?” Jem yelped . “ One of — I didn ’ t recognize any of ‘ em … you ’ re jokin .” He looked at Atticus from the corners of his eyes .
“ One of their connections . On a hunch , I didn ’ t strike him . Just on a hunch . Could ’ ve , but I didn ’ t .”
“ Golly Moses ,” Jem said reverently . “ One minute they ’ re tryin ’ to kill him and the next they ’ re tryin ’ to turn him loose ”…
Atticus said … “ it took a thunderbolt plus another Cunningham to make one of them change his mind . If we ’ d had two of that crowd , we ’ d ’ ve had a hung jury .” ( To Kill a Mockingbird , Grand Central Publishing , Hachette Book Group , Inc ., April 2010 © 1960 Harper Lee , pages 297 , 298 .)
Scout , the unknowing Second Chair , speaks to Walter Cunningham , the unknowing Fifth Chair , “ Hey Mr . Cunningham .” Within seconds Walter says , “ Let ’ s go ,” and other Fifth Chair Cunninghams are lastingly affected . One of them becomes a Fifth Chair himself in the jury room , “ rarin ’ for an acquittal .” If only he ’ d had a Second Chair ! “ If we ’ d had two of that crowd , we ’ d ’ ve had a hung jury .” A hung jury in 1930 ’ s segregated , Jim Crow , Alabama with a black man accused of rape .
Let ’ s look at another Second Chair experience . It was August 28 , 1963 . Hundreds of thousands had gathered on the National Mall in Washington , D . C . facing the Lincoln Memorial . Fifteen speakers were scheduled to speak . The last speaker had been cautioned by his advisers , by the event organizer , and even by the Kennedy Administration , to be careful . It ’ s a big stage . Don ’ t cause problems . The speech he was to give was written by others . It was well-crafted and very persuasive . Yet compared to others he had given , it was a bit bland . He had
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some thoughts he wanted to share and was burdened by whether or not to share them despite the cautions . Toward the end of his prepared remarks , as he struggled whether or not to share these thoughts , a friend standing several rows behind him , Mahalia Jackson , the well-known singer , yelled out , “ Tell them about the dream , Martin .”
Martin Luther King , Jr . quietly slid the prepared remarks to the side and calmly and carefully said , “ I have a dream .” The rest is history . No other speaker , no other remarks are remembered from that day . The speech itself , the written text of which contains no reference to the dream , still echoes through time . King sat burdened in the Fifth Chair with close advisers and important people occupying the First Chair . He wants to tell it ; he thinks it ’ s right ; he thinks it will make a difference . They tell him he is wrong ; don ’ t cause problems ; stick to the written speech . Mahalia Jackson , sitting in the Second Chair , reaches out with just a few words and , for a moment only , lifts King ’ s Fifth Chair burden – tell them about the dream , Martin . Mahalia Jackson said to Martin Luther King , Jr ., “ It ’ s B .”
Another scene : it is 1804 and thirty-two men and a Shoshone woman drag themselves into a Nez Perce village at the western edge of the Bitterroot Mountains . The village feeds the nearly starved group . But so rich is the food that without exception they are sick and further weakened . With them they have hundreds of firearms , ammunition and powder . The Nez Perce are a small tribe in the midst of much stronger tribes .
A council of elders discusses what should be done . Strong voices speak to kill them and take their weapons . The weapons could very well change the balance of power among the tribes . Other voices speak to befriend them and nurse them to health . After all , men with such weapons are better friends than enemies and surely will trade for more weapons if befriended . The Council makes its decision : kill them while they are defenseless .
A woman lying on her deathbed within hearing of the Council rises with difficulty and joins the circle of elders . Her unexpected presence , her deathly appearance , and the legend of her life command the attention of the elders . Her name is Watkuweis which means , “ Returned from a Far Country .” She had been kidnapped at 13 by a neighboring tribe and traded from tribe to tribe , in time being taken 1800 miles to the east . Her legend chronicles her deprivation and abuse . Eventually she is helped to escape by some white settlers in the Great Lakes area and given a few supplies . Miraculously and at great cost , she makes it back to her tribe . She now stands before the tribal Council and simply says , “ Men
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like these were good to me , do them no hurt .” Watkuweis says to the Council , “ It ’ s B ” and the Council changes its decision .
Among those saved that day were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark . The Shoshone woman was Sacagawea . The Lewis and Clark expedition mapped , surveyed and explored 820,000 square miles of uncharted territory . The expedition was the tipping point for the United States ’ expansion . But for the word of a dying woman , sitting in the Second Chair , saying to some on the Council sitting in the Fifth Chair , “ It ’ s B ,” the great and historically important contributions by Lewis and Clark would have ended abruptly on the western edge of the Bitterroot Mountains .
We refer to these experiences as Aspirational Ethics and the Second Chair . As stated , ethics are discretionary behaviors in relationship to morals . Ethics are about the choices we make in relation to how we see right and wrong , good and evil . Codification can limit bad behavior , but as discussed , more and more codification is required to be effective . Codification does not encourage good behavior and tends to result in less overall ethical behavior — fewer choices in relationship to right and wrong , good and evil .
The vast majority of people when asked , “ Are you good ?,” will hesitate to say , “ Yes .” Nevertheless , when asked , “ Do you want to be good ?,” most say “ Yes ,” without much prodding . A “ Yes ” answer is even more forthcoming when asked , “ Do you want to do good ?” It is rare , indeed , for someone to actually aspire to be evil or to do evil .
Why ? Why do most people readily declare that they want to do good ? David , before he became king , before he slew Goliath , said to his brother , Eliab , “ is there not a cause ,” is there not a reason I am at this place , at this time ?
Almost everyone feels deep inside themselves , purpose . Sometimes the feeling of purpose can get overshadowed by the moment or even by a lifetime of moments . But just like David of old — we have purpose , there is a cause , a reason for us being in the places we find ourselves , interacting with the people with whom we are interacting .
Sometimes the reason is to sit in the Second Chair and say to the Fifth Chair , whose purpose is temporarily overshadowed by First Chair voices , “ It ’ s B .” and when we do , just like a tuning fork resonates with the piano string , our Second Chair voice resonates with truth and purpose of the Fifth Chair and powerful things happen .
Aspirational Ethics and the Second Chair encourages awareness and choices in relationship to morals . We all sit in the Fifth Chair at times . Unfortunately , we may sometimes sit in the First Chair and get it totally wrong . But we can aspire to sit in
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Aspirational Ethics and the Second Chair |