Get Out

Some ramblings, no solutions or conclusions, on the subject of “The Sunken Place”

I’ve always been extremely uncomfortable being a white person, among a group of white people, talking as if we have the slightest understanding of what black people feel, think, or experience. We don’t know. I found an interview with Peter Rubin, a contributing editor from WIRED, where he described ‘The Sunken Place‘ as, “Feeling mired in intractable issues, perpetually trapped on the bottom rung of society’s ladder.” Not bad for a white guy’s point of view, I can’t do any better, so I’ll go with it and assume we’re all aware of the history supporting his statement. It follows that we must acknowledge that life for blacks in 2020 still easily qualifies as a ‘Sunken Place,’ as they still have unequal access to adequate healthcare, education, job opportunities, and housing, along with staggering disproportionate numbers of incarceration, all of which negatively effect their economic and social potential as well as political representation. I think many of us have an honest desire to think, feel, and act in ways that will change these realities. Laws are passed and politically correct words are spoken, but as long as we consider black people as ‘the other,’ in relation to ourselves, it seems to me that we (whites) remain incapable of intimately understanding what it’s like to be born into and fight to escape the “Sunken Place.” Worse yet, many either don’t allow themselves to see the Sunken Place, or else they see it and support it because they believe it is the ordained natural order and they’re willing to fight to preserve it.

I’ve heard white people say something to the effect of, “I don’t see color.” To that I say, “Great sentiment, but that’s pure bullshit.” We not only see color, we hear it, we sense it, we observe the realities happening as a result of color. In the United States, being any color other that white means being the ‘other,’ varying by degrees according to the relative shade of your skin. ‘Other’ is never considered equal unless it is recognized as being the subject rather than the object. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of times, with the the most noble of intentions, that I told my second graders, of many colors, “Skin color doesn’t matter, we’re all the same.” But by the time they’ve reached seven years of age, life has already shown them that it’s not the truth. It doesn’t take long before they come to understand that what some of their teachers really mean by, “Look past skin color,” is that they should look for the white traits in students of color. Perhaps instead of pleading with them to become color blind, we should begin preparing them to look deeper, to become aware that differences in people do go beyond skin color. This would be a difficult, delicate, and probably impossible challenge for elementary schools, which is where it would need to begin. Most parents don’t want, wouldn’t allow their children to be taught social views views at school. They want to raise little mini versions of themselves. In addition, teachers are just people who are hung up one way or another by their own racial issues. Anyway, the teacher’s unions would have great fun with that…and they’d win. In short, not everyone wants equality and it cannot be forced upon people, especially those who benefit from inequalities. So, young, fresh-eyed teachers step up, we need you!

The Emancipation Proclamation, like a marriage certificate, is a legal document. Marriages entered into with two willing parties have about a 50% chance of failure. The EP was met with willingness, compassion, and cooperation from just one party. It didn’t change the belief system of the opposing party, who were the creators and masters of the ‘Sunken Place.’ Their anger and resentment still lives. Having a brilliant black president brought hope to many of us, but didn’t bring change to the ‘masters’ of the twenty-first century. I have to admit that I was naively under the illusion that things would change when people saw heard this well spoken educated man! Eventually it dawned on me that, slow learner that I am, that just as witnesses to a car accident, what we take in through our senses must be immediately and subconsciously altered by our values. I had to believe that what other people saw and heard had a totally different truth and that it was just as real as my truth. So when I watch our current racist president who instigates violence and outwardly spews hate for all people who aren’t white Republican males, I’m frightened. When I see people with their guns and racist signs, I have a healthy fear. There’s always more space left in that ‘Sunken Place.’

o

Perhaps

AND WHAT IF WE LISTEN?

WHAT IF WE LISTEN MORE?

MAYBE WE ASK QUESTIONS. AND THEN WE LISTEN MORE.

AND IF WE’RE ASKED A QUESTION, WE ACCEPT OUR SHAME AND EMBARRASSMENT AND ANSWER HONESTLY?

WHAT IF WE SHARE OUR FEARS?

Dr T. I know you don’t like blogs that throw out questions as a rule. But when it comes to this topic