Finding the Grey

We read about slavery in our eighth grade textbooks. Then we covered the Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement in our high school U.S. History class. The horrifying events were summarized and listed in careful bullet points on our study guides. As if any words could actually capture the ruthlessness and violence that occurred, let alone bullet points. We sat in a room, filled predominately with students the same race as our own, and answered true or false questions about Rosa Parks and Malcolm X on a scantron sheet. We think we understand. We tell ourselves that we don’t discriminate or cast stereotypes and that the real issues are over. However, it’s 2016 and racism is still alive and everywhere we look. We hear it on the news, see it in the media and if we really pay attention, we can find it right in front of us. There’s a major problem in this country and I don’t think we’ll be finding the solution in a textbook.

We make a lot of choices in our lives. From what we want to eat for lunch to who we want to spend the rest of our lives with, decisions are inevitable. They give us a sense of identity. Although, for every choice we make, there are hundreds of hidden factors influencing our decisions. These factors are usually out of our control. For example, we are put on this earth and given life regardless of the generation, economy or society. We don’t get to choose the color of our skin, our sexuality, appearance, talents or even health. We have no say in who are parents are, how we are raised or where we grow up. These factors, which are completely and utterly out of our control, affect our experiences throughout life. Someone born and raised during the Great Depression will have different values, experiences and beliefs than a millennial, but this is obvious, right? We can’t expect people, born in very different generations and in two very different societies, to be the same.

This also applies with race. I’m not suggesting that all black people grow up in an inner-city environment or that all white people are from small, rural hometowns, though these are often the stereotypes we so easily believe. The differences in our society today, stem from the history of our country. The events we try to comprehend by reading a textbook or watching “Forrest Gump” are real for so many black Americans. Someone’s ancestors picked cotton from a field. Someone’s grandparents were actually forced to drink from a separate water fountain and use a designated bathroom stall. Someone’s innocent son was shot by a policeman or racially profiled by a cop while walking down the street. Can we blame black Americans for being defensive and angry? They have every right to be mad. We can try to sympathize with their anguish, but as white Americans, we will never truly understand because these are experiences we can only learn about in a class or hear on the news.

We wear our privilege on our skin, bright and obvious. We didn’t choose to be apart of the majority race, but this is what we inherited. What we do with this privilege is what matters. We can choose to turn a "blind eye" and act like racism is not there. We can form our quiet opinions and go about our days as usual. We can see things from one, single perspective or we can attempt to put ourselves in the shoes of someone else. We can broaden our horizons and listen to people with different opinions and viewpoints. We can step outside our comfort zones and try to affect change.
 

There are good people in this world and there are bad people in this world. Then, there are good people who occasionally make bad decisions. An African-American boy who fails to comply with authorities could be an amazing person with a kind soul who is simply filled with anger and resentment and tired of being racially profiled. The white cop who pulled the trigger might have acted in a moment of fear and uncertainty. I know every situation does not happen precisely as this example, nor am I making excuses for either of these actions, but I am saying that people do the things they do for a reason. There are uncontrollable factors behind every decision.

We must find within ourselves the ability to understand and see the world in a perspective other than our own. It’s time to stop letting our differences define us. We don’t get to choose where we are born or how we are raised and we sure as hell don’t get to choose the color of our skin. We are all put on this earth with different circumstances to overcome. If you let your close-minded attitudes and ethno-centric beliefs blind you from the beauty of the diversity of this universe, then you are the problem. We are simply different. The moment we reach this realization and learn to appreciate our diversity, we will find that we’re all living and breathing and manifesting human beings. We are all trying to make sense of this life regardless of color, or circumstances, or religion, or money, or history. Our hearts beat in unison, our chests rise and fall, we breathe in and we breathe out. We are alike in the simple fact that we are alive.  It's not a competition about choosing sides. There is black and white, but we must try to find the grey. We are in this together and it’s time that we start acting like it.