Once slavery in America was not seen as radical. It became, instead, a revolutionary idea that slaves should be freed. When we have lived under a pernicious power long enough, no matter how oppressive, we grow so accustomed to the yoke that its removal seems frightening, even wrong.

It is an anomaly that we can split the atom, but we are nearly powerless to persuade each other to embrace justice.

Arguments do not erase prejudice any more than arguments erase scars, whether psychological or physical.

We are afraid. But fear confirms life and identifies the source of every successful argument - ourselves.

Today the insatiable quest for profit promotes the new slavery. In bewildering ways, the new is more pernicious than the old, for the New American Slave is told he is free, and he clings to that myth as if his life depended upon it, a suspicion that cannot be totally ignored.

The function of the law is not to provide justice or to preserve freedom. The function of the law is to keep those who hold power, in power.

Successful argument is a communication between the acknowledged authority of both parties to the argument.