One of the reasons I last disrupted this blog was my despair over the current political situation. I didn’t want my blog to spiral into a downward descent of ranting, but I wasn’t sure I could avoid it. Once or twice I’ve been moved to compose a long, impassioned essay about some hot potato or other, but so far I’ve pretty much kept them to myself.
My friends and acquaintances span a wide variety of nationalities, cultures, traditions and religions (or lack thereof), long before you ever get to politics. I try to walk a line of respect for the individual and for our shared freedom to live and believe as we like. What discretion I do manage to display is a sign of genuine respect for differences.
Occasionally, though, I worry that such a posture might seem to be fence-sitting. A lot of people, in any number of situations, wait to see which side prevails before choosing sides. That’s human nature to some degree, but I am not usually one of those people. I believe in taking a stand. I believe in moral conviction. So in case there is any doubt in anyone’s mind, here is my personal manifesto.
I weep to see my countrymen embracing totalitarianism. I’m not surprised, but I am deeply grieved.
I am disturbed to my very foundations by the current administration’s theft of children. Handled as it has been so far, it is indistinguishable from human trafficking. There will be no forgiveness on earth or in heaven for this atrocity.
But my most profound sorrow began to grow years before the current administration arose from the slime. I began to perceive the vast depths of fear, cloaked as meanness and hatred, lurking in the hearts of so many white people.
Of course, I knew that some white people clung tightly to the old prejudices. I’m a poor, native Texan; I’ve known such people all my life. But I am also a child of the Age of Aquarius, and a true believer in all that brotherly love nonsense. Laugh all you like. I am looking at the stars.
Perhaps my earliest memory of church was singing the song about how Jesus loves all the little children of the world, regardless of their skin color. Silly me, I thought they meant it. But it’s easy to fool a child.
I meant it, though. I meant it with all my heart. When I heard the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., envision the day when we would all be judged solely on the content of our character, I shared his dream. I could see with great awe and wonder that distant land. I believed that at least some of us would reach it.
I also knew, in the moment, that there were a whole lot of white people who wouldn’t pass that test. Character takes effort to develop. It’s far easier to just leverage your whiteness and let that be enough.
I have lived the reverend’s dream as best I could. There are no gates on my community. I live in an international city, worked in an international corporation, and count among my friends those from many nations. My life has been enriched by the many unique people I have known. I have my prejudices, it is true; but they are based on character traits, not on pedigree.
So here is the one thing I want everyone in my personal circle to know.
I am not the only white person who feels this way. There are many others. We try to enlighten all those around us. We live in integrated neighborhoods. We offer our friendships without agenda. We share the dream of a more just world. We care. And we vote.
I’m not sure how today’s travails will end. I do fear that things will get worse before they get better, and I worry about that, too. Our nation’s very soul is in peril, I think, and the outcome is not at all certain.
But all is not lost. There are still lights in the darkness, and they do spread.
In the end, that’s all any of us can do. Shine. And spread the light.