Comments on: The Ethics of Bigotry, Part I: A Dubious Complaint

By: The Unethical Culture of the Congressional Black Caucus « Ethics Alarms

The Unethical Culture of the Congressional Black Caucus « Ethics Alarms — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:14:15 +0000

[...] after $90,000 of bribe money turned up in his office freezer. Thus the Caucus argues that the disproportionately large number of black members of Congress who have been the subject of ethics investigations is only proof of institutional [...]

By: Neil A. Dorr

Neil A. Dorr — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:22:29 +0000

Jack,
There’s also the serious potential for the “our members may be corrupt, but the rules are being selectively enforced” justification that inevitably follows in such cases (as in Barry Bonds, or the percentage of Black-American arrests)

Even if there’s reason to think that a rule is being used to target a certain group doesn’t make violating it somehow less bad. There’s little doubt in my mind the drug laws enforced more harshly on blacks, or that celebrities often get off with wrist-slaps while the rest of us would be in cuffs, but it doesn’t change anything. If you knowingly engage in an act which you knew was illegal, you’re just as guilty as those who avoided arrest (just unlucky).

[At which point I step down off my soap box and fade back into the aether]

By: Tim LeVier

Tim LeVier — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:18:48 +0000

I potentially think that there is some “reading between the lines” that needs to be done here. Look at the issue again and correlate with our list of ethics misconceptions and rationalizations. Perhaps the CBC is saying “Racism” because they think their conduct is justified when compared to other congressional member’s conduct. We all know that’s an ethics trap – So maybe the right question to be asking the CBC is “What’s your measure for being treated differently?” or even “What conduct have you witnessed that you think these are trivial matters?” Obviously the CBC has fallen into an ethics trap, so let’s get to the real issue here.