Is racism the only construct that holds us back? What other isms that keep folks from truly working together?
All isms can hold us back. Our country has trouble talking about differences. The notion of “assimilation” has been over learned. Many feel there is something wrong when we focus on our differences. Sexual orientation and religious oppression are also very difficult…and class…”America’s dirty little secret.” And then there is militarism…these issues link. We need a peace curriculum that teaches us how and what we can do about this. This should be part of every U.S. citizens education just like, say English or Math. We have to challenge the moral exclusion that has some of us seeing ourselves as not connected to the issues of those who are “not like us.” A young man in our program was arrested by the police last week for what is such a misunderstanding. Yet, the system does not allow this young man the opportunity to “have his say” before he is put in jail for several hours (after his friends got together and paid a $500 fine). The young people in our program, from all cultural groups, see this young man as a part of them and they are there for him…that’s what we need from all of us!
Will we be talking about race in the same way in the next 100 years?
It depends on what we choose to do about racial reconciliation. If we do not engage in genuine healing, yes! Do you know we had a civil rights act of 1865 (we just discussed it with 23 young people in our summer youth program) that was stronger than the one we had in 1964? It was repealed as Jim Crow was instituted. When I hear the call now for a repeal of the current act, I am not surprised given that we still have not done the work to create a belief in the full equality of every human being. We need to re-educate ourselves about how the isms are not just about laws to not discriminate. This is just one step and not transformative without work to change cultural values and individual hearts, minds and behaviors. This will take an on-going commitment…I think about “it’s time we made smoking history.” We really could do that AND it would take a commitment from the cigarette companies as well. To end racism it will take a societal commitment and the resources to do so over time. AND individuals can begin now by thinking about, talking about and learning about race and then teaching others. There are many things that individuals can do.
Another example, a white woman from another suburb of Boston, is a school teacher. Her school now has several Sudanese students who came here due to the war there. She took it upon herself to drive to Boston for a year to take courses and learn about the culture. She then created a curriculum and got permission from the school principal to teach the teachers in her school. In so doing, she became an advocate for whites challenging racism that has taken hold among many others in her town.
Filed under: Valerie Batts, cultural issues, race, racial issues
