The Christian, and global, world was shocked to see the insidious racist acts done at Baylor a week ago. A noose hung in protest to Obama's election is a sign that the war is not over. This gives us all a disquieting reminder that racism is still prevalent and particularly strong in this country, even at putative Christian university's where God's truth and love should reign.
People usually call me "off-base" and "alarmist" for saying this, but I think it is warranted considering these events: While racism is certainly diminished in its public form thanks to Civil Rights, it still exists potently hidden from the public-eye in invidious enclaves around this country. I contend that this is worse than the public form because it exists out of our perception giving us the feeling that "all's well". Some think that my thinking is ridiculous. I get their point. But I hope that in the process they realize that something done in secret is more toxic on the moral goodness of a society than what is done in open view, even if what is done in secret is quantitatively less than what was done in public, at an earlier time. At least in the public view you know that the evil exists, whereas in private, secret places the evil penetrates the very marrow of society, infecting it with a debilitating curse.
The Baylor incident is a mere outburst from what has been boiling underneath the surface for a long time.
I believe the first step towards combating racism is the confrontation of the "bigoted-self" that exists in all of us. That means that anytime we blame a particular race or group of people for problems in the world (whether we mean it or not) the evil of hatred manifests itself in its most egregious form: disguised innocence and naivete. We must torch this cancerous monster. Give it no more credence by denying its existence in the world or, more importantly, in us.
Does this mean bigotry will someday see its end? Probably not. That is too far sanguine for the true reality of human depravity. We are a world of reprobates, and we will remain reprobates as long as we shall exist.
Yes, there can even be bigots against bigotry. This we must surely avoid with all diligence, prudence and temperance. We must not let our passions for the Truth distort our respect for all human life.
Are you familiar with Jung's psychological work concerning the shadow?
ReplyDeleteNot really, gwahir, why? What does he mean with it?
ReplyDeleteJung believed that we have a shadow aspect of our unconscious mind that holds repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts. The shadow is irrational, so it tends to project personal weaknesses onto someone else. In essence, the things we hate about others is actually what we hate about ourselves on a subconscious level. Jung thought that, rather than hiding from our shadow, we need to understand it and understand our darker side. Only through understanding the shadow can we truly have some measure of control over our natural instincts. And only through understanding our shadow can we see people as they really are, rather than interpreting them through our own failings. You made me think of it because you talked about a bigoted self, and rather than blaming the racists out there, we need to defeat the racist inside of us.
ReplyDeleteThere is more to the shadow than that of course. It’s also the creative part of the unconscious, and a lot of art flows from it. It’s not always bad. Tool even wrote a song called 46 & 2 about the shadow, and the possibility that the shadow might actually be the key to human evolution on to the next level (at least on a mental, spiritual, and emotional level.) The idea of 46 & 2 is chromosomal, and comes from someone who is new age, so I’m not sure if it is actually factual or not, but the claim is that Aborigonal peoples have 44 chromosomes, most people have 46 chromosomes, which this person believed is a state of flux in our evolution to the next level, which is 48 chromosomes. 46 chromosomes is unbalanced, but 44 and 48 are not for some reason. It’s interesting to read, but I don’t know if I really think it’s true. But it is definitely interesting. Anyway, the point of the tool song was stepping through the shadow to reach 48, or 46&2 as the song goes.
Peace,
Gwahir.
Pretty disappointing, though I didn't hear about the this until now. I don't exactly follow stuff as much as I should. Wendell Berry's "The Hidden Wound" is also an interesting work on racism.
ReplyDeleteJung's psychological work concerning the shadow appears to be very true about me. Gosh! Once again, gwahir, you never cease to be awesome.
ReplyDelete