Three year old logic

Have you ever played with a small child, say a three year old, who would cover their eyes, or put their head under something and say "You can't see me".  Because in three year old logic, if they can't see you, you can't see them.  I really think that children believe that what they can't see doesn't exist.

What makes me really sad is how many adults I know that seem to operate from the very same place.  If they can't see something, it doesn't exist.

And what is very sad, is if you try to point that out, thoughtful introspection is not what you are typically met with.  Instead, the typical response is that you are wrong, and whatever you are pointing out doesn't exist.

Why is it that is it so hard for us humans to accept that there are things that exist, and are very real and impactful, that we don't know about or experience?

One of the most profound examples, which is quite prevalent right now, is institutional racism.  Another is the #blacklivesmatter movement.

I see posts on Facebook, on Twitter, I hear commentators refute that institutionalized racism does exist.  And then they use all sorts of unrelated data to try to substantiate that claim.  Things like, "But I worked for a black manager", or "The President of the United States is African-American"or "I live in an integrated neighborhood" or the grandaddy of all, "I know an interracial couple".  And from the African-American community, "I made it, so can anyone who tries hard enough" or "That is just an excuse for not trying harder."

Then there are those who say if we just stop talking about race, racism will go away.  To me, that is like saying if we just stop talking about money, we won't have to budget anymore.

Even though race is an artificial construct that we humans have created and focused on to separate ourselves from each other, racism is not artificial, it is real.

And in America, there are many, many people who make decisions about a person based on their skin color.  All different color people do it.  And those decisions may be about people who have the same skin color as they have, or a different skin color.  And that is institutionalized racism.  Because it is unconscious.  It is part of the normal way we do things here.

I see people proclaim that the reason there are more police stops of people of color is because there are a disproportionate number of criminals in the community of color.  I say it is the other way.  If police stopped white people as often as the stop people of color, there would be more white people caught committing crimes.

Hurricane Katrina ripped the media bias wide open.  People of color were looting, white people were desperately looking for food and water for their families.  Really?  Reality is white people and people of color both looted, and both looked desperately for food and water for their families.  There was no real racial line, just one the media created.

But there was a truth.  Most of the people that did not have the means to evacuate were people of color and the elderly.  And that was a truth that many still refuse to see.

And on to #blacklivesmatter. If you want to start a movement, find your own hashtag, don't try to corrupt and reuse someone else's.  The fact of the matter is, #blacklivesmatter is necessary because those among us using three year old logic refuse to see that there is a problem in how we interact on an institutionalized level with the people of color in our communities.

I believe this problem can be solved.  I believe we can evolve past this terrible divisive place we find ourselves in.  But first, we have to acknowledge there is a problem.

Then, we have to listen to those who believe they are negatively impacted by the problem, and work with them to try to find ways to solve it.

If we are going to remove the artificial construct of race that we created to separate us from each other, first we must admit we created the construct, then we must commit to deconstruction.

In an earlier post, I talked about all feelings being valid.  All feelings don't necessarily come from a logically derived analysis, but they are all valid.

Until we all work on hearing the validity of everyone's feelings, and working together to eliminate the behaviors that create separation and distrust, we can't solve this problem.

And it all starts with believing in the things that you personally might not be able to see.

So it is time for all of us to put the "If I can't see it, it doesn't exist" mentality away forever.

It is time to raise the veil of privilege, to sweep away the dust of indifference, and really see the way things are.

And then it is time to act on making sure that all of your actions support that #blacklivesmatter.

And all of your words and actions acknowledge the problems of institutionalized racism, and work to deconstruct it.