Options

Recently there has been a lot of talk about things like “Systemic Racism” and “White Privilege.” Truthfully, I don’t think most folks know what these terms mean, or even care.
I’m not going to try and explain these. There are myriad others who have taken on that task to various degrees of success. Y’all are smart enough and can Google those terms and educate yourselves.

I’m not sure that those terms are even appropriate. They too conveniently separate things that are, I think, truly inseparable.
When we point our fingers at “This” or “That” and pontificate that “THIS IS THE PROBLEM!” we oversimplify and misname what is a very complex matrix of culture, mores, and most importantly, Identity.

What we call Systemic Racism isn’t something that can be fixed. It’s not a true System. Yes, there are many moving parts to racism. There’s overt racism like we see at Liberty University. There were also Jim Crow and Redlining. There’s over-policing in the neighborhoods that were established through unjust housing practices. Health care; education; social support. These and many other things make up what many are calling a “System.”

I think it’s much deeper than that.
I think it’s much wider than that.
I think it’s an issue that reaches to the core of who we are as human beings.
Racism; anti-LGBTQ+; anti-Women; anti-immigrant; anti-Islamic; anti-(you fill in the blank).
These are all part of the very soil from which our many cultures dig their roots into and receive sustenance. We suck up these nutrients and they flow through our cultures and spread out into the branches. They fill the fruit that is born on these branches and become part of the very fabric of the cultures themselves.
No, “system” doesn’t quite get the whole picture.
And, perhaps more concerning, “system” gives the false picture of an object that can be reworked into something that in fact does works.

If this is the case, then the so-called “Two Options” that people are talking about today are moot.
These options are:
1) Racism is a corrupt system embedded into the foundation of the U.S. Therefore, we must rework the system in order to root it out and create a more equitable system.
I think that I already showed that this a losing endeavor.
2) Racism is a hoax. If African Americans would only pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and accept their own personal responsibility to good citizenship then all of these troubles would take care of themselves.
To this I have only one thing to say…Bullshit.

There are some out there that are trying articulate “Third Options.”
I have to give them kudos for looking outside of the obvious.
These include:
1) Those in the majority taking time to listen to African Americans and to their concerns.
2) White Americans using whatever privilege they have in order to uplift and empower African Americans.

These and others sound virtuous. No! They really do!
In our minds we can visualize the problem and develop action plans to do something.
Then, while we’re doing something, we can pat ourselves on the backs and say, “Look at us! We’re Doing Something! Yippee! Yay! Yahoo!”

I think that you can tell that I don’t put much stock in any of that, either.

There is something else that no one seems to be talking about except a man named Mark Charles. Mark is an indigenous Navajo man who writes about racial “conciliation.” Not reconciliation since that word intimates that there was at one time a good relationship that has gone sour. Mark has noted that minorities, or any group that has been labeled as “Other” aren’t the only victims of racial inequality. Those in the majority cannot possibly perform the acts of oppression and violence they have and not be affected deeply themselves. In his thinking, not only do we need to work toward the healing of the oppressed, we must also try to help heal the oppressor as well.
Of course, oppressors are usually neither willing nor able to see their own illness.

All of this leads me to a place where I have to stop and contemplate. As I’ve alluded, there is more, much, much more, to the issue we face today, (and have faced, um, forever?), than the simple fact that racism is evil. Of course it is! But, so is xenophobia, and sexism, and hatred of LGBTQ+ people, and…and…and…

The issues that we face today are as old as the first humans. Perhaps, evolution has conditioned us to be wary of any person or group who we view as “Other.” A natural means of protection and self-preservation. If that is true, then we have a lot of work to do. Human nature doesn’t just change because we want it to.
We’ve tried this approach for aeons. Religion; myth; philosophy; self-help gurus. We’ve tried all of those and then some.

As I gaze about I do see some patterns, though.
Now, remember, I’m not a very smart man. There are many of you out there far better equipped than me. And, Lord knows that there have been many who have come before who have struggled with these very questions and come up empty.
No, I just offer a couple of observations.
Observations that may help us to see a tad more clearly through the haze of our inherited character and maybe see through to a viable Third Option. (Maybe 4th or 5th?)

I will write about some of these in another post.
Today it’s sufficient to simply begin to think.
Think about where each of us fits within our little corner of humanity. Self-reflect on where we’ve been, what has influenced us,
and, maybe, where we would like to see ourselves going.

I know that I am oversimplifying very complex social and cultural issues. But, most of us aren’t going to pursue Ph. D.’s in these studies. We just want to be able to live simply and peacefully with one another.
If you have ideas or concerns, please use the “Comments” to share them.s