On the 1st through 3rd of July, I meant to write about Gettysburg. On the 4th of July, I meant to write about Jefferson and Locke's thoughts' showing up in the Declaration of Independence.
Based on events in Dallas, I'm finally going to
write - not about race but about gender.
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Our country has a history of revolutionary waves followed by unity and inclusion ... but I don't think history will commemorate this election cycle or today's divisions as signs of an enlightened era.
So, on this 8th of July, I'm looking to Sojourner Truth for wisdom and positive inspiration. Some will discount her life's work and messages because she left her children, boldly changed her name or had visions from God. But, I believe she can enlighten us at a time when I hope we will (again) begin to show the world a new American version of unity and inclusion
without bloody revolution.
Here's how I'm connecting today's dots ... what do YOU think?
1) Sojourner Truth was critical of the abolitionist movement because it left women behind. She is attributed with saying, "... colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before."
Even when we were trying to make things better/right, there was still (obviously?) more for us to do.
2) Black men earned the right to vote in 1870. Women earned the right to vote in 1920.
From the present, it looks like "they" were slow in the past. Even within past revolutions, conformity to established social norms left us blind to what is now easy to notice. What will future generations say about "us" and our ability to challenge the status quo and transform?
3) Harvard's Implicit Association Test (IAT) shows that we "all" have biases and that within group bias exists, too. In other words, we aren't all victims of the biases of others - we share biases.
It's a "we" issue, not an "us-them" issue ... listen and resist the messages of those who try to divide us!
4) Prejudice includes thought processes (within and outside of our awareness) and discrimination includes behaviors - taking action.
Our behaviors are easier to control than our biases.
5) We all have well established schema that allow us to take mental shortcuts and spare of us from cognitive overload and an inability to respond quickly to our dynamic environments ... this is good news and bad news from an evolutionary perspective.
Our behaviors are easier to control than our biases - unless we have to act quickly. When we act quickly, we are more likely to behave automatically and our established schema become more relevant.
6) From a cognitive perspective, we can influence our thinking and we can learn new things - we can change our well established schema.
Our purposeful thoughts can change our thinking and behaviors. As a species we may not overcome our biological wiring to notice differences in each other but we can still continue to move toward more sophisticated version of diversity, tolerance and inclusion.
7) Protected class discussions of diversity ignore more types of diversity than they include.
In our human desire for simplicity and easy-to-understand-labeling, our politically defined groups are limiting our ability to think about the complexity of diversity and inclusion and we remain focused on problems instead of seeking solutions.
Simpleton thinking contributes to "us-them" mindsets and maintains/promotes division. So ... can we purposefully think ourselves out of a bloody revolution this time?
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How can Sojourner Truth remind us that we still have more work to do today?
With Ms Truth in mind, one idea is to look to "gender" as a current focus of
diversity learning subject matter because it cuts across all other group identifiers that divide us into "us-them" schema. While we may spend more time with those representing similar race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, socioeconomic status and other demographic factors, we can't help but be closely connected with the other gender(s). Gender is relevant at home, work and in daily life for
all of us.
For example, imagine this .... a room of people arguing about
Black Lives Matter and the Police who are then asked to divide themselves with the dichotomy or continuum of gender. The room would mix with regard to all demographic groups except for gender and then an educational experience would help those present understand how human bias develops and is likely to be expressed. Then, still separated by gender, the topic returns to
Black Lives Matter and the Police as the 2 or more gendered groups are tasked with coming up with specific questions (for critical thinking/research) before making recommendations for specific solutions (if you are interested in this model, please contact me). Then, a meaningful dialogue begins ...
If we go deep into looking at gender issues over time and within the United States as well as other parts of the world, we may begin to see how we are still blind to prejudicial thinking and discrimination. With new, shared awareness, even with our limitations as a species (i.e., hard wired to notice differences), perhaps we can advance as micro and macro cultures/society.
More than 400,000 are buried at Arlington National Cemetery and 20-30 bodies per day arrive for burial ... although war and death have been part of our past revolutions, wouldn't it be historic if we could think our way through the next ones? What if it was
us (we!) who showed the world how to achieve revolution and transformation without violence?
Rose colored glasses or possible?
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We have a history of revolution. We have a history of inclusion.
The 1st through 3rd of July passed. The 4th of July was just days ago. It's the 8th of July ... what aspects of our shared cultural heritage can we focus on to become better versions of ourselves? What do we still need to learn? Now? Soon?
