The whole L.A. Clippers, Donald Sterling fiasco set the stage for some interesting conversations 2 weeks ago. I’m totally late publishing this post but I’m going ahead and sharing anyway. In a few different conversations with friends, of different backgrounds, I came to a conclusion. As appalling as it is (and it is!). I mean, c’mon people, really? In this day and age, we’re still dealing with this. Less than a year after the Trayvon Martin case, I find myself saying the same words. And here’s my conclusion: things heal when they come to the surface.
Appalling, yes! Terrible, yes! Useful and purposeful, most definite, yes! Why, because you can’t fix something that you don’t know is broken. Millions of people are quiet victims of racism every minute and no one ever hears about it on a global scale. When things come to the light, it creates an opportunity to heal. An opportunity to heal something as basic as human beings off different coloured skin with the same blood running through their veins hating on each other has the potential to create a fundamental movement of peace in the world. The more gaps we close (racial, cultural, gender, sexual orientation, political) the more conversations we create, the higher the potential for unity and power.
Everyone has an opportunity as to how they want to respond right now – what do we want to do with this? People everywhere can use this to come closer together and defy the imaginary boundaries imposed by race, or, we can use this to get angry and create more separateness.
It’s almost no coincidence that soccer player Dani Alves was the victim of racism just last week on the field. His response was brilliant, and an anti-racist movement, themed “We are all monkeys” is spreading like wildfire amongst the soccer community.
We can say, it’s terrible that these sorts of things are still happening, or, we can come together, creatively, joining our individual voices to affect change and enlightenment. These weren’t discrete racist incidences gone unnoticed, they were visible on a global scale – smack in the centre of the spotlight. If these things wouldn’t be coming to the light, the opportunity to create these powerful creative movements wouldn’t exist.
Finally, we can take this theory back into our own daily microcosm, when things come to the surface, when a crisis arises, with your health, your family, your relationship – it’s an opportunity to repair. Instead of resisting, we can open ourselves to the possibility of change, and willingly jump aboard to take the necessary steps towards something better. Just a thought.
KM