Brennan Walker, 14, was luckier than many black teenagers in white neighborhoods. He escaped unhurt when a homeowner, full of the old white fear of the black male, shot at him.
The story is told in today's New York Times and elsewhere: Walker missed his bus and so decided to walk to high school this week but got lost in a Detroit suburb. When he knocked on a door to ask directions, the woman who answered the door yelled in panic, assuming the kid was breaking into her house. (Do burglars knock, usually?)
Her husband picked up immediately on the hysteria and without thinking, grabbed his shotgun and fired at the fleeing youth. Luckily the police did the right thing and arrested the man with the gun.
Much will be written about this story in relation to guns, police, and the law. What hits me is the same type of racist terror that elected Donald Trump--if you accept the plausible theory that white Americans, angry at our two-term black president who was supposed to be followed in office by an equally progressive woman, took out their rage in the election, putting into office a corrupt, incompetent demagogue who appealed to their primitive (anti-immigrant, anti-minority) attitudes.
So it was fear that struck me as the lesson in this case: white fear of black power; and of course, the black fear of the ruling majority.
If only our racism could be eradicated, but that would mean the impossible task of wiping clean the sad history of racial hatred in America and, with it, fear of the "other."
Showing posts with label hatred. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hatred. Show all posts
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Thoughts for the New Year
Will this be a good new year? I am encouraged by news (courtesy of Heartfulness meditations) that, in Asia, sports stadiums have been booked for the benefit of those who wish to spend today in meditation. Wow!
I can't imagine such a thing in this country, where money, noise, and football dominate the sports culture. Of course, many people today pray, I hope for world peace and (I hope) for the inner peace that makes interaction with each other peaceable. We have to work hard, day by day, for a less violent world.
How can we do less hating? A message from Richard Rohr at the end of the old year reminds us that cognitive science shows that the brain holds on to negative thoughts (like Velcro) whereas positive thoughts slip off (like Teflon). To retain a positive experience, he says, you have to intentionally hold on to it for fifteen seconds to allow it to imprint your brain.
This means we have to deliberately, consciously choose to love rather than to hate. The fear that leads to anger and hate comes easily, just as the memories of being wounded cling to the brain; but to re-wire ourselves to be positive, caring, and compassionate requires an effort. It takes work to remain each day in the present moment rather than recalling old hurts and hatreds.
As Rohr says, many decent people in our society, in churches as well as in politics, are much more at home with hate than with love; and they don't know this. They have not been taught to focus on the good.
So, to live in a loving way and thus to make an individual contribution to the greater good, requires great spiritual work. No one ever said that peace came easily.
I can't imagine such a thing in this country, where money, noise, and football dominate the sports culture. Of course, many people today pray, I hope for world peace and (I hope) for the inner peace that makes interaction with each other peaceable. We have to work hard, day by day, for a less violent world.
How can we do less hating? A message from Richard Rohr at the end of the old year reminds us that cognitive science shows that the brain holds on to negative thoughts (like Velcro) whereas positive thoughts slip off (like Teflon). To retain a positive experience, he says, you have to intentionally hold on to it for fifteen seconds to allow it to imprint your brain.
This means we have to deliberately, consciously choose to love rather than to hate. The fear that leads to anger and hate comes easily, just as the memories of being wounded cling to the brain; but to re-wire ourselves to be positive, caring, and compassionate requires an effort. It takes work to remain each day in the present moment rather than recalling old hurts and hatreds.
As Rohr says, many decent people in our society, in churches as well as in politics, are much more at home with hate than with love; and they don't know this. They have not been taught to focus on the good.
So, to live in a loving way and thus to make an individual contribution to the greater good, requires great spiritual work. No one ever said that peace came easily.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Trumpeting Hatred
The most disturbing thing for me about the Donald Trump phenomenon is not just his arrogant, toxic disregard for truth or his constant media attention or the failure of the Republican establishment to remove him from the spotlight, as Senator McCarthy was finally removed. What bothers me is the fact that he has generated millions of followers and supporters to whom he panders. They make him a national embarrassment.
Like all demagogues, Trump appeals to the self-interest and fear of many people who are understandably confused by the threat of terrorism to this country and the challenge of refugees. He allows these people to vent their anger, based on fear; and in this sense he serves a purpose. But the time for this public display of venom to end has passed.
What Trump-ism reveals to me is the power and appeal of hate: how much easier it is to hate than to love. Love takes effort and attention to someone other than the self; it takes patience. Hate is easy: it bubbles to the surface when fear turns into anger, as when issues of injustice in race, gender or ethnicity arise. The powerless feel empowered by hating; they feel important, and so they attack what they resent or fear.
The fact is, people enjoy hating, and the world-wide media enjoy covering the frenzy of Islamophobia unleashed by the Trump candidacy. His followers feel better--temporarily. But citizens probably felt the same way in the 1930s, when fascism took hold in Europe.
We know where that led. That's why the most disturbing thing for me in today's news is that millions of seemingly rational Americans agree with the fear-based hatred represented by Donald Trump. To dismiss him as a clown is to undervalue the dangerous impact of his appeal.
Like all demagogues, Trump appeals to the self-interest and fear of many people who are understandably confused by the threat of terrorism to this country and the challenge of refugees. He allows these people to vent their anger, based on fear; and in this sense he serves a purpose. But the time for this public display of venom to end has passed.
What Trump-ism reveals to me is the power and appeal of hate: how much easier it is to hate than to love. Love takes effort and attention to someone other than the self; it takes patience. Hate is easy: it bubbles to the surface when fear turns into anger, as when issues of injustice in race, gender or ethnicity arise. The powerless feel empowered by hating; they feel important, and so they attack what they resent or fear.
The fact is, people enjoy hating, and the world-wide media enjoy covering the frenzy of Islamophobia unleashed by the Trump candidacy. His followers feel better--temporarily. But citizens probably felt the same way in the 1930s, when fascism took hold in Europe.
We know where that led. That's why the most disturbing thing for me in today's news is that millions of seemingly rational Americans agree with the fear-based hatred represented by Donald Trump. To dismiss him as a clown is to undervalue the dangerous impact of his appeal.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Why do we love to hate?
Andy Borowitz, in his frequent borowitzreport.com, sends out faux news bulletins that are often fine (and funny) examples of satire, in contrast to much of the cynical humor that passes for satire in the media. I recommend him to anyone unfamiliar with his work.
In his post for Oct. 8, Borowitz announces a "poll" showing that the possibility of a race between a black man and a Mormon for president in 2012 poses a dilemma for that part of the voting public who hate both groups. Their only source of relief: no woman is in the race, or so it seems at this still early date.
We may smile or laugh at such a bit of "news," but the truth is that hatred, which usually goes by some other name, comes naturally to many people. Perhaps that's why the Christian principle of "love thy neighbor" is often impossible for many to follow.
Early on, we learn to put others down in an effort to mask our own insecurities and feel (however briefly) more powerful. There is always some group--those different from us--who can be condescendingly accepted or rather--because more fun--castigated as inferior, unworthy, etc. In short, we love to hate, and history is replete with examples of one group hating others enough to kill them.
I recall the chilling short story by Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery," which seems to suggest that traditions in general are to blame, though the story is open to many and varied interpretations. Her fable takes place in a small, all-American town where the annual custom is for the townsfolk to select a lottery "winner" to be stoned to death by everyone else. The elders warn that breaking this ancient custom is wrong, but the younger generations do not protest; they carry on this horrifying ritual, perhaps because they need an outlet for their fears.
I see fear as the greatest threat to everyday happiness and civilization. Fear (of the stranger) can quickly turn to anger, which turns to hate and often to violence: this is the pattern found in racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred, each of which gives the hater a reason for living. The white supremacist has learned that hatred can be a kind of energy, a source of fufillment.
At least such racists tend to be open about their feelings, unlike so many in the voting population today, who are full of a resentment that they cloak in patriotic or Christian garb. They end up hating in the name of religion or ideology and as such end up repeating some of the worst lessons, which they never learned, from the past.
The study of hatred shows how much harder loving is than hating. Hating others, as any schoolboy bully knows, requires little effort. Teaching one another how to respect, accept, and love one another more fully is what education and religion should be about.
In his post for Oct. 8, Borowitz announces a "poll" showing that the possibility of a race between a black man and a Mormon for president in 2012 poses a dilemma for that part of the voting public who hate both groups. Their only source of relief: no woman is in the race, or so it seems at this still early date.
We may smile or laugh at such a bit of "news," but the truth is that hatred, which usually goes by some other name, comes naturally to many people. Perhaps that's why the Christian principle of "love thy neighbor" is often impossible for many to follow.
Early on, we learn to put others down in an effort to mask our own insecurities and feel (however briefly) more powerful. There is always some group--those different from us--who can be condescendingly accepted or rather--because more fun--castigated as inferior, unworthy, etc. In short, we love to hate, and history is replete with examples of one group hating others enough to kill them.
I recall the chilling short story by Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery," which seems to suggest that traditions in general are to blame, though the story is open to many and varied interpretations. Her fable takes place in a small, all-American town where the annual custom is for the townsfolk to select a lottery "winner" to be stoned to death by everyone else. The elders warn that breaking this ancient custom is wrong, but the younger generations do not protest; they carry on this horrifying ritual, perhaps because they need an outlet for their fears.
I see fear as the greatest threat to everyday happiness and civilization. Fear (of the stranger) can quickly turn to anger, which turns to hate and often to violence: this is the pattern found in racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred, each of which gives the hater a reason for living. The white supremacist has learned that hatred can be a kind of energy, a source of fufillment.
At least such racists tend to be open about their feelings, unlike so many in the voting population today, who are full of a resentment that they cloak in patriotic or Christian garb. They end up hating in the name of religion or ideology and as such end up repeating some of the worst lessons, which they never learned, from the past.
The study of hatred shows how much harder loving is than hating. Hating others, as any schoolboy bully knows, requires little effort. Teaching one another how to respect, accept, and love one another more fully is what education and religion should be about.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Questions about Hatred
While many people were learning of the death of Osama bin Laden, I was watching a PBS documentary this past Sunday on Irena Sendler, who fought hatred quietly by rescuing Jews in the Warsaw ghetto.
For four years, at great risk, Sendler and a small group of other Christian women set up safe houses where Jews, starving or being taken off to Treblinka and other death camps, could hide. Of course, anyone helping rescue Jews--indeed anyone seen publicly with a Jew at the time--would be shot by the Nazis.
Two hundred Polish convents took in 2,500 Jewish children, who survived the horrors of the Warsaw Uprising. Irena was the organizational brains behind the operation, staying one step ahead of the Germans until she was finally caught and imprisoned. Later, the Communists in Poland harassed her, and the truth about what she had done could not be revealed until near the end of her long life, which came in 2008.
Like so many great souls, Irena never thought of herself as heroic. Yet on the day when a famous and worthy son of Poland was beatified by the Church, I could not help thinking, Why isn't this remarkable woman recognized by Rome? She is one of those who deserve canonization, not just the powerful and the famous.
The bigger question in watching her story: Why don't we do more to fight hatred? Why do we let it fester and grow in our schools and neighborhoods, where suspicion, prejudice, fear, and resentment easily turn into hatred and violence? If we put the media spotlight on bullying or racism or other injustice, do we really reduce the amount of hate in our society? Rare are those who, like Irena Sendler, do something concrete to combat hatred, bit by bit, family by family, with quiet courage.
Will the death of bin Laden cause more hatred of Americans in certain parts of the world? The answer seems obvious: as people cheer the bold and courageous action that brought down this chief terrorist, as they celebrate the triumph of justice,do they recognize that killing the enemy is not ultimately the way of peace?
For four years, at great risk, Sendler and a small group of other Christian women set up safe houses where Jews, starving or being taken off to Treblinka and other death camps, could hide. Of course, anyone helping rescue Jews--indeed anyone seen publicly with a Jew at the time--would be shot by the Nazis.
Two hundred Polish convents took in 2,500 Jewish children, who survived the horrors of the Warsaw Uprising. Irena was the organizational brains behind the operation, staying one step ahead of the Germans until she was finally caught and imprisoned. Later, the Communists in Poland harassed her, and the truth about what she had done could not be revealed until near the end of her long life, which came in 2008.
Like so many great souls, Irena never thought of herself as heroic. Yet on the day when a famous and worthy son of Poland was beatified by the Church, I could not help thinking, Why isn't this remarkable woman recognized by Rome? She is one of those who deserve canonization, not just the powerful and the famous.
The bigger question in watching her story: Why don't we do more to fight hatred? Why do we let it fester and grow in our schools and neighborhoods, where suspicion, prejudice, fear, and resentment easily turn into hatred and violence? If we put the media spotlight on bullying or racism or other injustice, do we really reduce the amount of hate in our society? Rare are those who, like Irena Sendler, do something concrete to combat hatred, bit by bit, family by family, with quiet courage.
Will the death of bin Laden cause more hatred of Americans in certain parts of the world? The answer seems obvious: as people cheer the bold and courageous action that brought down this chief terrorist, as they celebrate the triumph of justice,do they recognize that killing the enemy is not ultimately the way of peace?
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