So I’m watching this video today and something the guy said struck me. He said “white kids today are only told the good part of their history, not the bad.” All they see are the things that put the actions of our leaders in a light that makes them out to be good people. None of the bad is shown. For example, all they see is that Thomas Jefferson was an inventor, politician, and writer who authored the Declaration of Independence. What they are not taught is that he was also a slave owner, who had an affair (or possibly raped) one of those slaves and fathered children with her.
There are two opposing perspectives here. One shows a great man who was instrumental in shaping a nation. The other shows a degenerate who had low morals and little care for the lives of an entire race. They’re both the same person. However, when you spend your entire childhood learning to believe one thing, it’s very difficult to understand that your hero is also and extremely flawed human being. Think Bill Cosby.
We deal with these challenges today. You could split them into two groups, but really there are many. People live in a bubble and only see what is fed to them through social media. By the way, getting your news on social media is a lot like being a mushroom; you’re kept in the dark and fed shit all day. People close themselves off from different ideas and ideologies. Ideas counter to their own are a threat. This is a very divisive attitude and ultimately what you end up with is war.
I admit it. I had a very liberal upbringing. I stared kindergarten in 1970. The country was just coming to terms with racism being a bad thing. I was actually taught as early as grade school that our country’s founders were flawed human beings. We had to understand that both the good and the bad were true. Until now it has never occurred to me that other people may not have had the same experience. Even in my Lutheran Sunday School classes I learned the dangers of separating race and religion in a free society. My mother even took us to different churches to show us how other people approached God and just because it was different, didn’t mean it was wrong.
I am constantly bombarded with the idea that the right only teaches one way to pray, or that only one race is special. In fact, based on reporting and recent Presidential elections, this is how half of the country thinks. Half of the country thinks that having compassion is crazy. Think about that for a moment. I am to believe that half the county believes that being inclusive, providing healthcare for all, and helping the needy, is bat…shit…crazy. Saving a fetus is a good thing. Educating and feeding a child…well…that’s just crazy talk.
However that’s really too simple an observation. Not every liberal believes in abortion and not every conservative wants to arm a teacher. There are nuances to every perspective. This means there’s room for dialog. We just have to be willing to talk. That’s the biggest hurdle. However, when our leaders capitalize on divisions rather than what brings people together it makes it difficult for any one to be heard, and almost impossible for reasonable solutions.
It is difficult to change someone’s opinion, especially when it is rooted in deep-seated ideologies taught from birth. Think about it. Imagine if someone came to you tomorrow and told you everything you knew to be true was actually false, and vise versa. Would you react with acceptance, or would you tell them to piss off? A great majority of people will do what they are doing today, hide inside a social media bubble that echoes what they already think. Change is often painful. Not everyone can deal with pain.
So what’s to blame for this? Really it is ourselves. Certainly, there needs to be more education across the board to inform children that life is not black and white. There are a whole lot of colors in the world and we need to understand all of them. But those of us who believe we are enlightened about the world need to also understand that we may not have all the answers. There just might be something we can learn from someone who has a different opinion. Because the best way to get someone to listen to you, is to first listen to them.
Rex