Part 1. The Moral Arc: Are we Bending Toward Justice or Away From It?
Part 1: Justice Is Not Inevitable
This is Part 1 of a two-part series.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s enduring quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,”has served as a beacon of hope and perseverance for countless movements for equality and civil rights. Yet, it’s crucial to pause and examine this statement, especially in today’s turbulent socio-political climate.
Does the arc indeed bend inevitably toward justice? Or is justice only achieved through relentless effort, with the risk that in the absence of vigilance, the arc could be pulled away from justice?
To understand this, we must revisit the origins of the idea. Dr. King was paraphrasing a much longer reflection by Theodore Parker, a 19th-century Unitarian minister and abolitionist. Parker admitted to not fully understanding the moral universe but, with conscience as his guide, he was confident that justice was the natural direction. What King did was condense Parker’s musings into a resonant call to action, but the question remains: Is justice a certainty, or does it require constant, active pursuit?
There is an implicit danger in interpreting Dr. King’s quote as a guarantee of eventual justice. It fosters complacency—a belief that the world will naturally improve without sustained effort. History repeatedly shows us that this is not the case. When societies or individuals fail to resist injustice, the arc does not simply stagnate; it is actively bent away from justice by forces that thrive on inequality, oppression, and fear. In the absence of energy to correct it, the arc can warp in a way that entrenches harm.
Consider the lessons of the 20th century. The rise of authoritarian regimes in the 1930s, marked by unchecked hate and propaganda, did not occur because justice failed to work its magic. It happened because forces actively bent the arc toward oppression, and too many people either supported the effort or stood by passively. Similarly, the civil rights movement did not materialize as a natural progression of justice; it arose because individuals like Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and countless unsung heroes demanded action, sacrifice, and courage.
This lesson is especially urgent in our current moment. In a world where misinformation proliferates, where policies are enacted that undermine fundamental rights, and where systems are manipulated to entrench power for the few, it’s clear that justice is not guaranteed. In the absence of effort—our collective effort—the arc is vulnerable to bending in precisely the wrong direction.
Dr. King’s legacy reminds us that bending the arc requires vigilance, commitment, and unity. But most importantly, ACTION.
Justice is a battle that must be fought daily. If we take its eventual triumph for granted, we risk surrendering our hard-won gains to forces that will readily exploit our inaction. The arc, then, is not simply “bending toward justice.” It is bent—either toward justice or away from it—by the energy we bring or fail to bring to the struggle.
Lutz, J. M. (2017). The Spread of Authoritarian Regimes in Interwar Europe. Politics, Religion & Ideology, 18(3), 243–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2017.1351954
Edelman, M. (2020). From ‘populist moment’to authoritarian era: challenges, dangers, possibilities. Critical Agrarian Studies, 465.
Lazarević, Ž. (2024). Dictatorship, authoritarian regime, and the banking sector in Yugoslavia during the 1930s. In Giving Credit to Dictatorship (pp. 47-63). Routledge.
Merziger, P., Balbi, G., Barrera, C., & Sipos, B. (2019). Crises, rise of fascism and the establishment of authoritarian media systems. The handbook of European communication history, 135-152.
Motadel, D. (2019). The global authoritarian moment and the revolt against empire. The American Historical Review, 124(3), 843-877.