By Jessie Fillingim

Last week’s Black Friday shopping sales brought a maniacal disregard for human life. Irritable shoppers on Long Island, obsessed with getting a deal on gifts for loved ones, trampled Jdimytai Damour in a rush to snatch the best after-Thanksgiving deals. In Palm Desert, Calif., a shooting erupted in an altercation between shoppers in a Toys “R” Us, leaving two dead. Although the shooting was reportedly unrelated to Black Friday shopping, we can only speculate if the violence would have occurred apart from the agitation brought on by the shopping chaos.

The Nassau County police are attempting to use surveillance camera footage to identify the individuals who trampled Damour. They expect to bring justice to a perceived minority of people who are willing to commit this reprehensible act. Identifying the murderers will likely be extremely difficult. The shoppers are not going to be your typical criminal. They will probably have no more than a traffic ticket on their criminal record. They will be your neighbor, your pastor, your librarian, your teacher. They will be the same people that shook their heads at the same kind of violence the year before.

The tragedy’s proximity to Thanksgiving highlights the hypocrisy of the Black Friday madness. Those responsible for the death of Damour probably bonded with their family by sharing a meal. Immediately following a day of warmth and togetherness, they trampled someone to death for a good deal on a Blu-ray player.

Public interest undoubtedly results from the slowing economy, with some commentators claiming that the violence is caused by increasing desperation to save money in tough economic times. Some blame the Administration’s encouragement to “spend” our way through this economic decline.

Although media coverage of the Wal-Mart employee’s death is unprecedented, this is not the first casualty of the Black Friday madness. Every year stories about uncharacteristic violence cause us to shake our heads at the measures some people would go to just to save a buck.

Others passing blame accuse Wal-Mart for not being sufficiently prepared for the crowd. In most stores anticipating heavy traffic, employees placed heavily discounted items in easily accessible locations. Some stores used security officers to control the crowds. Workers unions condemn Wal-Mart for being negligently unprepared for a foreseeable occurrence. However, many remain uneasy about blaming Wal-Mart completely when the death was a direct result of the shoppers’ recklessness.

The mob mentality or “herd behavior” phenomenon occurs when a group of people are in a panic. Being a part of a mob allows us to ignore our conscience by sharing the responsibility for our actions with the rest of the group. A moral person, when faced with the choice between fighting a violent crowd to help Damour or justifying the past six hours they spent waiting in line by grabbing a flat-screen television, could easily choose their own self-interest, especially if no one was doing differently.

Anyone who has shopped on Black Friday will tell you that to get the deals, you have to be assertive. You can’t let people push you aside. If someone is slowing you down, you might need to give them a subtle push.

Who should we hold accountable for Damour’s death? Anyone who physically walked on him? Anyone who pushed someone into walking on him? Anyone who pushed at all? All the shoppers present, for encouraging the violent environment?

The truth is, we are all responsible for Damour’s death. We support a society that defines morality based on social norms. We are all familiar with the mob mentality, and every time we gas up our car we allow ourselves to submerge. When we throw trash into an already litter-filled street, we commit violence against the environment. If we see enough people acting in the same way, we escape from the sense of guilt that normally guides our actions.

Damour’s death on Black Friday was a painful reminder of our inability to make moral decisions based on reasoning higher than interpretations of the actions of others. If we want to prevent future mob-motivated violence, we have to stop making decisions based on the actions of other people. We need to take responsibility for our contribution to the energy crisis, the environmental crisis and even Black Friday violence. If we consider the consequences of our actions when multiplied with the actions of others, only then can we pass judgment on others for mob violence.

Jessie Fillingim is a second-year law student. You may e-mail her at [email protected].