I am sitting at my desk in utter amazement that the year is 2021, and the problems that people of color faced over fifty years ago is still alive and well. Racism is still alive and well. Hatred is still alive and well. Entitlement is alive and well. Fragility is alive and well. No matter how we try to cover the line of division, it always makes an appearance in our world.
Recently, several high school students from a semi-affluent school in the area, decided that re-enacting the death of George Floyd was entertaining, and they posted it on social media. The call for action demanded that immediate attention be given to this situation which resulted in expulsions. Although there was immediate attention, the damage was done. The impact of the action was felt by faculty and staff across the district. But what I realized this morning is that conversations about this incident will not happen. Others will call it an isolated incident. Some will say get over it because these were a bunch of teenagers. Many will sweep it under the carpet and pretend it didn’t happen. There is just one problem. It is not an isolated incident that will go away if we choose not to talk about it and pretend nothing has happened. See, oppression is here in 2021 just as it was in the fifties and sixties. Many will say that race relations are better, but in actuality, oppression just comes in a different form.
Researchers have said that lessening the widening gap in racial equality will not occur for at least another hundred years. What I do understand is that we represent our present climate in school, church, business, and community. Whatever occurs and is taught inside a house is represented outside of the house. When babies are born, they are happy to be in the world. As toddlers, they are happy to have playmates. By the time they become school-aged, they know that there is a difference in hues of complexions, and by middle school, children have adapted to the norms of social classes and the disparity and entitlement that goes with it. By high school, children have associated themselves with social groups, and depending on the group, they will reject people that were friends long ago. Middle and high school bring about awareness of confidence or low self-esteem; entitlement or compassion; acceptance or rejection, arrogance and humility, success or failure, similarities and differences, and love and hate.
This awareness creates a lens of oppression through education, socio-economic differences, community, and religion. Perceptions of understanding are revealed through Socratic seminars, essays, art, dance, and conversation. This lens also exposes self-gratitude, arrogance, entitlement, class differences, history, biases, and preferences. And still, the line of division remains visible. Why? And what are we going to do about it? We can talk with good intentions and accomplish nothing. We can pretend that some situations never happened and accomplish nothing. We can avoid the difficult conversations and accomplish nothing.
In reflection, I am reminded of the greatest command “We are to love one another.” In a desensitized society, we have omitted the word love and replaced it with so many negative words. As I sit at my desk in 2021 in utter amazement; I reflect on how the omission of one word can change the perception of society.
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