Racism was a very destructive issue in my childhood, so whats happening across the US these days is very emotionally disturbing for me. My friend Renee Zimelis Ruchotzke is working through the Unitarian church to nurture co-creative community level dialogue across the midwest, and when I saw this in my feed I knew her perspective on this set of sometimes confusing issues would be valuable to me. Renee wrote: If you want to understand why #blacklivesmatter is not going away and in fact is gaining strength and energy, please read this. One pull quote stood out, but the whole article reflects my understanding of racism today: *The current rate of police killings of black Americans is nearly the same as the rate of lynchings in the early decades of the 20th century.* Renee is right. Its an important read for getting a grip on where racism is at today. As someone empathic to the human impact of the social and economic systems we humans design, the standout point for me was *Race has been made complicated, but it’s a sociological construct, designed by the white ruling elite generations ago for the main purpose of exploitation and control. Your racial isolation has been intentionally choreographed...* Like Hildy Gottlieb says in The Pollyanna Principles people will go where systems lead them. Those old rich guys designed a resilient one. What if all the blame could just be put where it belongs.. in the past. Its starting to feel to me like the US could maybe benefit from a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation process. As things stand now, Im just heartbroken to observe from afar whats becoming of the country I grew up in, and praying for peace in America.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 05:52:50 +0000
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