The Virus of Fear
Racism is seeing others as less than us.
Racism is treating others as less than us.
Racism is hurting others because it makes us feel better about us.
Racism comes from a centuries-old contagion, the virus of fear.
We fear those not like us because we fear anything not familiar to us.
We need to feel superior to others because we fear the feeling of self-worthlessness.
We fear those not like us because we believe they might take what we believe is ours.
We fear losing what we have because we may not be fully deserving.
They fear us because we have what they rightfully want, the ability to survive and thrive.
They fear us because we may have more power and control.
They fear us because history confirms that they should.
They fear that this inequality and injustice will never really end.
Since the beginning of humankind there has been a virus of fear, and with that virus has come a constant, insidious subjugation by members of the majority of the minority.
The only antidote to the virus of fear is teaching the members of the majority who are most afraid, to love. The only way to stop the generation to generation transfer of racism and bigotry is to teach the next generation to love themselves. When people love who they are, they no longer fear loss or the inability to gain. When people love who they are they no longer need to hurt others to feel better about themselves. When people love who they are they are willing to give, to understand, and to find common ground. When they learn to love themselves, they can let go of their fear and be able to love others, including people who are not familiar to them.
Love is the only cure.
Our society does not teach the love of self, or love of others. It does not happen enough in homes. It is not happening enough in schools. And it is not happening enough in our communities. For fear to be overruled by love it must be universally and extensively taught.
But teaching love alone is not enough. It has to be part of a bigger aspiration, the invention of a human development system. A bringing together of what happens in school, outside of school, at work and in the community, around a set of clear intentions, outcomes that we want for our children, young adults, subsequent generations, and for each other. Intentions that specifically answer the question, what does it mean to be an American? What does it mean to be human? Intentions that set clear expectations and establish bedrock principles of ethics, integrity, and humanity. Intentions that ensure that our citizenry carries a strong moral compass and walks the earth unafraid, emboldened by the love of who they are and all those around them.
That we have no such development system may be the biggest miss in what is considered the most advanced country in the world. We have no agreement on what it means to be a good American, and we have no agreed-to method or means of realizing that outcome. Whatever the system, it must align the pedagogy of the classroom with the pedagogies of the living room and the playground. It must enlist all of us, from teachers, mentors, coaches, and priests to parents, grandparents, and friends to be active, guiding, and defining forces in the development of our children’s and future generations’ understanding of what it means to be human and the rights and responsibilities that accrue to it. Racism will only disappear when it is replaced with an unwavering embrace of our collective humanity and what it feels like to be loved. And that can only happen when it is required, taught and learned by everyone.