Read on Twitter
White silence ≠ violence.
Things aren’t that binary. And hyperbolic catchphrases do nothing to further a cause or ease division.
I prefer to listen, to learn, and to grow.
I’d rather speak late out of a place of understanding and logic than react early out of emotion.
Things aren’t that binary. And hyperbolic catchphrases do nothing to further a cause or ease division.
I prefer to listen, to learn, and to grow.
I’d rather speak late out of a place of understanding and logic than react early out of emotion.
But our culture distills every issue into a binary choice. It ignores the myriad nuances that comprise an event, a group, or a person. And we’re left fighting a two-sided war that should be a multi-sided discourse.
No one is forcing you to have an opinion before the facts are known. Or to repost a meme to check the “I’m not a racist” box on your social media bingo card. You don’t have to shout into your bubble just to hear the chorus of confirmation come back.
But sometimes issues are so clear that discussion isn’t needed. A bad cop killing a defenseless man. The destruction of private businesses by lawless rioters. A police culture that shelters wrongdoers and thereby condones violence toward civilians.
We should all agree. But the nuance is gone. We’ve already distilled the issue into two choices.
Cops are bad/cops are good
Protesters are bad/protesters are good
Trump is legit Hitler/Trump was sent by Jesus himself
And if you’re on the other side, you’re evil.
Cops are bad/cops are good
Protesters are bad/protesters are good
Trump is legit Hitler/Trump was sent by Jesus himself
And if you’re on the other side, you’re evil.
I feel stuck in the middle. Things simply aren’t binary. There’s no one cause, and there’s no one solution. The solutions can only come painfully, over time, with sacrifice and struggle, through communication and a shared burden. We have to engage and we have to listen.
And honestly, I haven’t been listening hard enough. It’s easy to dismiss the plight of others because it’s not happening to you or your tribe. It’s human nature, not learned behavior. But it can be unlearned.
I can’t see the world through the eyes of a black American, or understand what he or she is feeling today, or know the past experiences that have led them to process the world through that lens. Nor can I claim those feelings are invalid.
We see the world through our own lens and expect others to do the same. Not necessarily out of malice or racism, but because it’s all we know. Real communication is the only way to see, if even a sliver, the way someone else sees the world.
All that to say, I don’t have all the answers.
And you don’t either.
And that’s okay.
So maybe shut up every so often and listen before you speak. You might learn something. And clean your room before you try to change the world.
And you don’t either.
And that’s okay.
So maybe shut up every so often and listen before you speak. You might learn something. And clean your room before you try to change the world.
