Chips from the Quarry

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka remains one of the most significant Supreme Court cases in the history of American education—and indeed of the country. As chief justice, Earl Warren delivered the unanimous opinion that effectively desegregated schools and represented a major turning point in the civil rights movement. A lifetime had prepared him for the moment: Nearly two decades earlier, as grand master of Masons in California, Warren, a member of Sequoia Lodge No. 349 in Oakland, expressed many of the same views in his address to the Annual Communication of 1936. At the time, he wrote, “I am convinced that the hope of the future lies in the education of our youth, not of some children but of all children—not according to so-called classes of society.”

Eighteen years later, presiding over his first case on the Supreme Court, he echoed that language: “Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it,” he wrote of public education, “is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”

His choice of words in both cases stands out. To the court, he referred to education as “the foundation of good citizenship,” and to his fellow Masons, “the foundation of a liberty-loving people—the greatest blessing this or any nation has ever had.”

Mostly, though, it’s the values that undergird those words that comes through in both texts. In addressing the Masons in 1936, Warren invoked the stonemason’s level. In the second degree, the level is described with the reminder, “For he who is placed on the lowest spoke of fortune’s wheel is entitled to our regard.” Warren wrote of public education, “It offers the strongest proof to the world that he who is on the lowest spoke of fortune’s wheel may be entitled to our regard.”

In a celebrated career that reached the pinnacle of American politics, Warren was always able to call on the lessons he’d learned—and taken to heart—back at lodge.

I just received the  two texts in the photo above, on my smart phone (these are the exact texts).

I immediately went to my browser and Googled, “urgent alert for your USPS package” and “we came across a parcel from June pending for you.” You can likely guess the results.

“HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – The Horry County Fifteenth Circuit solicitor is advising residents to be on the lookout for a text scam circulating to get their information. According to a post on the solicitor’s Facebook page, the text message appears to be from the U.S. Postal Service with a link saying a package is being delivered. Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said he reached out to the USPS fraud investigators after he received a text four times about a package being delivered to him. USPS officials said the text is a phishing scheme to get information from individuals as soon as they click the link. According to the USPS, they will not send text messages to people unless they had previously signed up for such messages about a particular package delivery.”

There have been several similar stories from newsrooms around the country. People routinely fall for these postal, FedEx, or UPS delivery scams. Once you go to the link, you will be asked to identify yourself by providing things like your driver’s license, date of birth and a major credit “for identification purposes only.” 

You might be instructed to call a legitimate looking number, which may even appear to be in your own area code, subtly gaining your trust. The person you speak to is friendly, sympathetic and very believable. When you say that you were not expecting a package the caller convincingly explains to you that it looks like a gift. 

With your personal information they are able to start making charges in your name, steal your identity or sell your personal information on the dark web. They may have even downloaded a virus. As you wait for the delivery it dawns on you that this might not be on the up-and-up. Trust that inner voice. 

Today, we order more and more for home delivery and may even forget exactly what we ordered and when. Scam artists depend on it. Google the text you just received. You will almost always learn that it is a scam. Verify legitimacy before providing your personal identifying information, not after.

If you do fall for this scam, take immediate action. Freeze your account and carefully watch all charges. Reporting it is promoted as your civic duty. But, better not to have been taken in the first place.