By Gary Carlson
Professor of English, NCCC
If I may, I would like to mention a few things to consider during this extremely angry and divisive time:
1) The immortal Frederick Douglass said many wise and truthful things in the unforgettable Narrative of his life; not the least of which is that slavery often proves “as injurious” to the “oppressors” as to the “oppressed.” It dehumanizes those on both sides of that ugly equation. Not in the same way, of course, and not to the same degree; but we would ALL be well-advised to ponder that amidst all the current shouting and name-calling and finger-pointing–especially the wisdom, the forbearance, and humanity of Douglass’s words.
2) Another very wise and holy person had this to say to a mob of people ready to stone a person they found to be “sinful” and offensive: “Let he among you who is without sin throw the first stone.” Another statement worth considering in today’s climate of intolerance and angry self-righteousness. BTW, should this statement–and Christ’s message–be rejected because of the use of “he” as an inclusive pronoun? Or do we instead accept that either Christ or the author of that Gospel were creatures of a time and a culture in which the masculine pronoun typically meant “everyone”? Christ’s message still has value and truth, even if it also serves as a painful reminder to all of us in the 21st Century how male-centric culture and language has been for these many centuries. This is true of most literature and film and other cultural artifacts: they reflect their cultural and historical “context”—the time and the culture in which they were produced. It is OUR job to recognize that and to LEARN from it. Destroying it or remaking it in our image, to our specifications, is not only incredibly arrogant; it’s also dangerous. Obliterate the past and we are much more likely to forget it—along with the lessons the past has to teach us. Slaves built the pyramids; should they, therefore, be considered an abomination, something to be destroyed? What about Auschwitz, while we’re are at it, that horrible monument to evil and genocide? There is a reason that it still stands. A good reason. “Never again,” it whispers to us all. As does Gone with the Wind and Birth of a Nation, historically and artistically significant films that, nevertheless, serve also as painful reminders of who we were and, perhaps to some degree, still are. This leads me to my next point–
3) Can we PLEASE remind ourselves of a cliché that, nevertheless, continues to be quite true–that those who are ignorant of the past (or are bent on erasing it) are doomed to repeat it. Can we pair this with another cliché? “The truth shall set us free.” Taken together, perhaps both sides of the current Columbus, etc. conflict could learn to temper their views a bit with a willingness to listen and learn from each other. Helping the “scientists” of his day to understand that the world was not flat was no small feat and deserves to be commemorated; at the same time, enslaving and exploiting and murdering an entire civilization is obviously something that should not and cannot be ignored. Whatever happened to examining the evidence, acknowledging both sides of an argument, seeing if we can form a consensus, and if not, then working out a compromise? Beheading statues, fist-fighting and calling each other terrible names is not the answer. Can we please learn to behave like adults?
4) And can we please, please, PLEASE disabuse ourselves of the ridiculous notion that only “perfect” people “deserve” to be honored? “Nobody’s perfect,” my grandmother used to frequently remind me whenever my intolerance of others or my own burden of guilt became too much to bear. As always, she was right. Do a person’s accomplishments outweigh their personal failings? THAT is the question–one that deserves serious debate. Mobs tearing down statues is NOT the solution. If we tore down every statue of every imperfect person, guess what? There wouldn’t be a statue left standing! JFK, MLK, Macolm X, Elvis Presley, Jane Fonda, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Sanger, Ayn Rand, James Brown, FDR—so many great men and women who contributed something of value to this world. Yet they ALL had feet of clay—ALL of them were flawed, imperfect people to some degree. So are we all.
5) Can we also stop acting as though racism (or more broadly, prejudice) only afflicts certain segments of humanity? Like stupidity, EVERYONE is capable of racism or idiotic, unreasoning prejudice. In its least harmful manifestation, people end up yelling at each other about the supposed merits (or defects) of the Yankees vs. the Red Sox or Sally’s vs. Pepe’s pizza. If such disagreements escalate into fist fights or worse, then these idiots should be punished–depending on who threw the first punch, etc. Under no conditions, however, should we absolve the person who prefers Sally’s (or Pepe’s) simply because “everyone knows” that Sally’s (or Pepe’s) is the “best” pizza and that people who are “woke” to that “fact” are incapable of being disagreeable or malevolent (or racist or intolerant). Got it? In a free society, EVERYBODY has a right to express their opinion, so long as their idea of self-expression doesn’t include violence or interfere with the rights of others. A society that expects everyone to think and feel and express themselves only in the current “acceptable” fashion is a society that is heading for trouble. Beware of hypocrites—those who loudly denounce and accuse others of the same sin they are committing. We see them on the Right; we see them on the Left. Don’t be seduced or fooled by them. And don’t be intimidated by them, either.
6) Finally, can we please stop the armchair quarterbacking and the automatic assumption of guilt depending on a person’s race or occupation or politics, etc.? This rush to judgment seems at least partly to be a result of the 24-hour news cycle, partisan journalism, and the all-pervasiveness and insularity of so-called “social media.” For God’s sake, STOP IT!
All this violence and chanting and running around with masks and guns and incendiaries isn’t helping. We need, instead, to listen more, to speak more, to think more, to read more, to question more, and to vote with our hearts AND our heads. Along the way, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to revisit such seemingly outmoded concepts as civility, politeness, courtesy, understanding, kindness, forgiveness–and to try practicing them in our own everyday lives. Relearning how to smile (without smirking) and recapturing a sense of humor (that is not based on shock or cruelty or insults) wouldn’t be a bad idea for starters. Oh, to live in a world where we delight in each other’s differences and aren’t so damned prickly with one other. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if it doesn’t just start with simply smiling and saying “Hello” to somebody without subjecting them to some sort of cultural/political litmus test.
The angry, alienated, socially-distanced world we now inhabit may not entirely be of our own making, but it is ours–and it’s the only world we have. How about this? How about we stop blaming our ancestors for everything that’s wrong with this world and start taking responsibility for it ourselves–one day, one person, one act of kindness and/or “positivity” at a time? Sounds good to me. I think I’ll give it a try. How about you?