Moving
Forward
“I am
fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture,
I cannot say. Part of being an optimist is keeping one's head pointed
toward the sun, one's feet moving forward.”
Nelson
Mandela
As much as I've written
about darkness lately, I am, as was Nelson Mandela, fundamentally, an
optimist. I still believe in the basic decency of humanity.
Sometimes, it takes seeing what is ugliest in us to be able to rise
above it. This hideous, newfangled brand of hate we witnessed in
Charlottesville over the weekend—one that celebrates racism,
antisemitism, white-supremacy, and violence—is like a primeval
dragon, awake and unshackled, that remembers it can breathe fire and
brimstone down on the rest of us. We've certainly seen its face
before, and we know how dangerous it is, but the full weight of
humankind is aligned against it, and will stand together to oppose
its wrath. Our eyes are open, too, and there are many more of us.
I believe that, having
seen the beast, we will view each other differently. Perhaps now we
will be more inclined to treat each other kindly to counterbalance
the hatefulness. Hopefully, we will go out of our way to show respect
for one another. It doesn't harm anyone. It takes no more energy to
be kind than to be hateful. We can open our hearts just as easily as
closing them. And, it's time to open them.
This resurrection of
racist violence and unrest in America has nothing to do with history,
nor with pride of place or culture. It has only to do with power,
hate and fear. Fear of displacement, fear of becoming a minority
culture—because we know how we have treated our minority
cultures—how we are still treating them—and we don't want to be
treated that way. There is still time to enact the golden rule; to
treat others as we would like to be treated. But there is no turning
back the clock. We must point our faces toward the sun, and move
forward together.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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