Is dignity granted, inherent, or achieved?

“No matter what they take from me, the can’t take away my dignity…”  – Whitney Houston, “The Greatest Love of All”

I’m a little disappointed with George Takei. On his Facebook feed, at least, he’s generally taken the high, humorous road in the pro-gay marriage movement, trying to put a positive face on things. Now that that movement has succeeded is he giving up on that?

Actor and gay rights advocate George Takei is slamming Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after his dissent to last week’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide claimed that the government can neither give nor take away human dignity.

“He is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry,” the former “Star Trek” star said in an interview with Fox 10 this week in Phoenix, standing alongside his longtime partner and husband.

“For him to say slaves had dignity … I mean, doesn’t he know slaves were chained? That they were whipped on the back?” Takei asked.

A lot of people were and are passionate about the pro-gay movement. I get that. And I get that, as he goes on to relate, his own family, as Japanese Americans during World War II, suffered signficant discrimination and privation. But does Thomas deserve to be called “a clown in blackface” just because they disagree over how they should feel about the nature of dignity? Takei uses racially-charged words, if not outright racist, and most people would not get a pass on that. You’d never guess that Takei’s side just won the day.

It seems extreme to me to get that upset over a basically philosophical argument. Disagree with Thomas all you like, but there’s no need to sink to that level of invective. It’d be like President Obama getting verbally abusive at the people who didn’t vote for him because they disagree with what he meant by “change”.

But is Takei’s over-all point true? Can governmental actions take away someone’s dignity? What is dignity, anyway? Re: Dictionary.com:

1. bearing, conduct, or speech indicative of self-respect or appreciation of the formality or gravity of an occasion or situation.

2. nobility or elevation of character; worthiness.

3. elevated rank, office, station, etc.

4. relative standing; rank.

5. a sign or token of respect:

Depending on how you care to arrange the order of definitions, I suppose the answer is “maybe.” I know there are many who like to think of the government as the source from which all things flow, but I’m not sure dignity is one of those things they can give or take away. Certainly they can create conditions under which it’s difficult to maintain one’s self-respect or elevation of character.

But can they grant it? I don’t think so. How can you make a person feel and demonstrate self-respect or nobility of character if they don’t already feel it themselves? Did millions of gays across America suddenly acquire dignity last week? Does the Supreme Court have the ability to grant dignity? Did the Emancipation Proclamation grant dignity to freed blacks? Or did they not get dignity until the end of Segregation? Was Martin Luther King, Jr. lacking in dignity because the government had not yet given it to him?

I believe the answer is not a simple one, but I’m certainly not willing to go as far as Mr. Takei. The government can’t give it or take it away–not by itself. It can create circumstances that foster or undermine it, but dignity is for each of us to grasp for ourselves. Certainly there are plenty of Americans who seem to lack dignity, and yet are rich and successful by most standards. (I won’t name names, but I’ll bet you already have a few in mind.) It’s their choice to act undignified.

There have been plenty on both sides of the gay rights movement who have done their utmost to deny their opponents any dignity. Could Takei’s disparagement of Justice Thomas be an attempt to deny him dignity? And who is more undignified in this example? Would Takei have been so upset had Thomas’ argument been voiced in the majority opinion of the Court? How about if Thomas had himself voted in favor of gay marriage? Would Takei still have objected to his opinion?

But back to dignity. As I mentioned above, it’s not a cut and dried issue. I’ve been looking at a few quotes on dignity, and it seems the word itself has grown beyond easy definition. Some examples, which I’ll let finish this post for me:

“In the 21st century, I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion.”
– Kofi Annan

“When will the day come that our dignity will be fully restored, when the purpose of our lives will no longer be merely to survive until the sun rises tomorrow!”
– Thabo Mbeki

“The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this.”
– William Wordsworth

“To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.”
– Mikhail Bakunin

“The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.”
– Lech Walesa

“We have been educated into believing someone else’s concept of the deity, and someone else’s standard of beauty. You have the right to practice any religion and politics in a way that best suits your freedom, your dignity, and your understanding. And once you do that, you don’t apologize.”
– John Henrik Clarke

“That means that every human being – without distinction of sex, age, race, skin color, language, religion, political view, or national or social origin – possesses an inalienable and untouchable dignity.”
– Hans Kung

“No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.”
– Booker T. Washington

“From the depth of need and despair, people can work together, can organize themselves to solve their own problems and fill their own needs with dignity and strength.”
– Cesar Chavez

“By a lie, a man… annihilates his dignity as a man.”
– Immanuel Kant

“Human dignity is better served by embracing knowledge.”
– John Charles Polanyi

“Why do the people humiliate themselves by voting? I didn’t vote because I have dignity. If I had closed my nose and voted for one of them, I would spit on my own face.”
– Oriana Fallaci

“Dignity does not come from avenging insults, especially from violence that can never be justified. It comes from taking responsibility and advancing our common humanity.”
– Hillary Clinton

“Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in this; that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely conceives it, wants it, and loves it.”
– Mikhail Bakunin

“There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals.”
– Herman Melville

“Dignity does not float down from heaven it cannot be purchased nor manufactured. It is a reward reserved for those who labor with diligence.”
– Bill Hybels

“The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.”
– Dag Hammarskjold