Commentary: We must quietly listen, acknowledge our biases and commit to change
Stirring the Sounds of Silence
“The air has finally gotten to the place that we can breathe it together,” or so thought Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987) four years before the birth of George Floyd.
A restless night, yet I slept in a clean bed, on a full stomach, in a safe middle-class neighborhood, living a trauma free existence free from any thought much less fear of the police. Why? My soul and my heart infiltrated my mind with the thoughts of all the acts and omissions that gave rise to the justified protests experienced from coast to coast across our nation. The immediate impetus of our protests is the loss of George Floyd, a subdued unarmed Black man prone on the ground surrounded by three police officers with another kneeling, with the weight of his body, on George’s neck.
This would be tragic and reprehensible in its own right yet, tragically and unfortunately, it is not an isolated incident. The litany of similar incidents belies the charge and oath of law enforcement to serve and protect. Do we still not know the problem? We have studied it multiple times. We have recommendation after recommendation that almost universally follow the same theme and make similar recommendations. Yet the legacy continues and the tepid response consistently falls far short of the mark and fades away or is diluted by the passage of time and the unwillingness of those in power to share “their” power and commit the resources necessary.
Whose fault is it? It is time to look in the mirror, yours truly included. As a white, able-bodied male with class privilege, I have spent decades seeking social justice. I have made dozens of trips to Ferguson and St. Louis to participate in the public hearings of the Ferguson Commission. I have moderated programs on racial issues. I mention those actions not for credit, but as a preface before the exposure of my own omissions. The sins of omission are often hard to clearly identify yet they are often more telling and more significant.
I do not have the pleasure of living in a black or white world. I live in a nuanced world of multiple shades of gray. As a lawyer, as a facilitator and as a mediator I see levels of responsibility, I see factors of mitigation and, sometimes, I even can convince myself of justification for my measured response. However, what concerns me is that they all lead to avoidance or what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described as “benign neglect.” Dr. King condemned this as more dangerous than the KKK and hate groups that, once identified, can be confronted, challenged, and are exposed for the evil they are.
What good does one man’s confession make? Perhaps little or none if it ends in itself. However, if it causes you to rethink, reconsider the historic mistreatment of people of color it has the chance to be cathartic in prompting the transformative change and the commitment required. As Margaret Mead once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
So, what do I want you to do? What’s my plan? It starts and ends with the word “silence.” As Stephen Covey extolled: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” That’s not as simple as it may sound. Even before we can understand others we need to appreciate and understand how we process information and stimuli. Neuroscience unequivocally establishes that the human brain cannot and does not function on independent separate bits of data. Instead, the brain chunks the data into recognizable groups and patterns based on experience, postulation or, at times, on the brain’s best guess. What influences and controls the logarithm employed is our predispositions, proclivities and view point. Simply stated it is the filter of implicit bias that none of us like to acknowledge, but all of us have.
What needs to happen first is to use the mindfulness tool of being in the moment. That entails each of us making a conscientious and persistent effort to distance ourselves from the experiences of yesterday or the fears of tomorrow. Only then can each of us process the information being received in the moment, in its more pristine form, i.e., less filtered, pre-processed or prejudged. If that can be done, the next step is to not only listen with our eyes and ears, but hear the true plight of others. When whites communicate with persons of different races, cultures or ethnicity we need to listen patiently, reflectively and with the emotional and intellectual goals of truly understanding that other person’s experience, concerns and behavior. In other words, we must try to walk in the shoes of those of a different color, experience the trauma of their life, hear about the unmet needs of their life, listen to their dreams, see the choices they have to make and the pressures they may be under. It takes considerable time and effort. It is often very time consuming and uncomfortable.
This is the first step; as whites we cannot get to phase two until we take the time and make the journey through the collective eyes of others, listen to the individual and collective voices of communities of color and hear their cries.
Why have I spent such time and effort to deal with step one. It is because phase two involves the other side of “silence.” Until we expend the time and energy on step one, we will not have enough “skin in the game” to deal with phase two which involves the underlying theme of this article – the sin of omission. Each person’s level of complicity involves addressing a lifetime of routines, patterns, relationships, comfort zones and requires the commitment to change and share the rights and powers we believe we have earned when often they result from the privilege of status and are taken for granted.
It will not be easy, but these steps are necessary to form the “more perfect union” envisioned in the aspirational goals and values of our Declaration of Independence (1776). Abraham Lincoln reminded us of these aspirations in a cemetery in Gettysburg. Despite the passage of four score and seven years before Lincoln’s address, our country had not been governed by the Declaration of Independence nor by the Articles of Confederation, but rather by the United States Constitution (1787). A document tainted by the 3/5th compromise which further embedded the original sin of slavery into the working fabric of our country. Despite the Civil War, Amendments to our Constitution, and the Civil Rights movement, the vestiges of injustice, inequality and discrimination continue to permeate the systemic institutions established by those in power to protect themselves as well as me and others privileged enough to enjoy the benefits they bestow. The horrors, the brutality, the immorality of slavery must be acknowledged and never forgotten. The very term “Reconstruction,” to rebuild from remaining parts, left in place an insidious system of classism which was manipulated to institutionalize a complex system of racism designed to share neither power nor the unearned historical privileges it perpetuated.
COVID-19 provides a vivid and glaring reminder of the impact of historic institutionalization by the powerful. This indiscriminate virus attacks all humans in the same manner. Yet, people of color and, more particularly, the Black community are disproportionately impacted. Why? Pre-existing health conditions adversely affected by: inadequate health care, housing, nutrition and education; the exposure to the stress of repetitive trauma (both as children and as adults); and, the constant lack of concern and respect, just to start. A Black individual is two and one-half (2 ½) times more likely to die from COVID-19. When you look at those preforming low wage “essential” jobs, often without health insurance or sick leave, people of color predominate. Yet, despite those enhanced risks to their health from COVID-19 and their fragile economic circumstances, people of color have taken to the streets not only to protest the excessive use of force, but to redress the inequities in housing, health care, education, economic opportunities, community services and the daily trauma and indignities that have been allowed to continue by those in power.
Each of us need to hear the message, heed the message and become the message. We can only bring about transformative change if we recognize the moral righteousness of this cause and make it our cause. If our primary motivation is the avoidance of the consequences of temporary inconvenience or the intimidation by those who would use the cover of a justified protest to incite destruction of property, to burn and to loot, our support will be short-lived and, ultimately, lead to resentment. True justice, reconciliation, equality and the human dignity deserve our respect and must be our imperative.
We must use the hammer of justice to help ring the bell of freedom or be judged wanting by its toll. It will toll in one way or another. The voices of the unheard have awakened and will no longer be silenced, nor should they be.
Can you say his name: GEORGE FLOYD?
Can you remember WALTER SCOTT? We should.
You could always politely say “all lives matter,” but can you commit to give it substance and meaning by listening to the unheard cries and finally making Black lives matter.
We honor George Floyd when we commit ourselves to listen, join forces, speak up, pressure leaders and stay actively engaged in all aspects of the community that adversely impact people of color, the less fortunate or the unrepresented. Our children and our grandchildren deserve a country reconciled with, and to, the sins of the past and dedicated to the dignity and respect of persons of all colors and committed to justice, opportunity and fairness. It should not simply be a proposition, but a mantra, a prayer, a covenant to ourselves, to each other and to our Creator.
Robert E. Wells Jr., Ambassador, Center for Racial Harmony
The Center For Racial Harmony is a third-party neutral organization dedicated to promoting understanding, cooperation and communication among all races and ethnic groups.
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 2:08 PM.