Lives of reformers can guide our own

WE should use the law to punish racist social actions, but the virtuous, self-confident protester, should seek for a deeper

understanding, to overcome our present social problems.

William Wilberforce sacrificed his life for justice for people whom he never met, and, since I lived after him, I owe him a debt of gratitude which I cannot repay, that he saved me from the poison of racism, by teaching me an abstract principle, that all men and women are of intrinsically equal value, for the eternal future. It is not enough to abhor the ugly, self-destructive ignorance of racism. It is essential to discover and hold to the ethical truths of this universe.

One avenue to comprehend abstract principles, is by the study of metaphysics, which also clarifies physics, into our present knowledge of science.

But if your education has not included this understanding of formal philosophy, then an equally reliable method, is for you to learn from the dedicated lives of those who went before us, to teach us the abiding purposes of human life. Wilberforce was not some perfect man: he did have some rather reactionary ideas, judged by present thoughts.

But nothing in this world can deprive Wilberforce, and others of all complexions, Paul Robeson, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, of that debt which we owe, within that historical cavalcade of the valiant triumph of social justice over centuries, in which we also can play a part, in our own generation.

Their lives should guide the values of our lives, but the important truth is that shared journey through time, towards that honourable goal, which is the justification of many lives, at different stages.

CN Westerman, by email