The image appeared in my news feed. A young white teenager standing toe to toe with a Native American / Indigenous elder, staring directly into his eyes with the same smug smile I have seen time and time again during my 40 years of working with youth in multiple diverse contexts. I studied the picture, looking around at the people gathering around this young boy and saw his friends laughing, grinning, looking at each other with that look that says, “Check this out! Look what Nick is doing to this old man.”
I did not need to watch the video, watch, listen, or read CNN
or any other news source, understand the context, listen to the commentary, or
read what people were saying on any platform. There is an old idiom full of
truth . . . “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And so I posted the
following:
I am angry. I am disgusted.
I am heart broken. Regardless of your politics
or spirituality, if you do
not condemn these actions, YOU are part of the
problem. The actions of
these boys are beyond disrespectful. All of you who
question and challenge me
when I write about white privilege . . . You are
staring at it in this video!
And the fact that there was not one single adult with
this group with the where
with all and righteous indignation to step into this
group of boys and shut them
down and demand that they humble themselves
and apologize is beyond
pathetic!
This is NOT who we have
become. THIS IS WHO WE ARE AND HAVE BEEN!
It is time to listen, admit,
confess, lament, and humble ourselves.
Kyrie eleison, Christe
eleison.
Responses have challenged and chastised saying I jumped to
conclusions and didn’t take the time to know and understand the whole story.
Others have demanded I retract my statement and apologize.
So I watched the full video. I read the other findings. I listened
to the angry, foul & vulgar words of the African Hebrew Israelites. I watched
the “school spirit chants”. I watched the interview with Elder Phillips. And I read
Nick Sandmann’s statement.
And . . . I stand by my initial post with one addition. I
now add heavy-hearted to what I feel.
I am angry, disgusted, broken hearted, and heavy-hearted because
young white teenage boys only knew how to act and react in this inclusive
environment the same way young white teenage boys, raised in exclusive white
environments, have always reacted in our country. (Thus my statement: “This is not who we have become. This is who
we are and have been.”)
I am angry, disgusted, broken hearted, and heavy-hearted
because the adults (who are responsible for raising these young white teenage
boys) are failing to educate and train them for interactions in inclusive
environments and instead, are unwittingly or knowingly, teaching these boys to perpetuate
the privileged and dominant culture that is at the root of why these African
Americans and Indigenous Peoples groups were protesting in the first place.
I am angry, disgusted, broken hearted, and heavy-hearted
because these young white teenage boys, empowered by their privilege and
confidence in the superiority of their culture, took every action in their
youthful repertoire – learned by careful observation of the adults in their
culture – to respond to “attack” and re-establish their perceived loss of dominance
instead of taking actions that would have brought knowledge, understanding and
possibly developed community.
I am angry, disgusted, broken hearted, and heavy-hearted
because of the combination of ignorance, naivete, and gall this young white teenager demonstrated by standing
his ground and staring into the eyes of a Native American / Indigenous Elder
with a smirk that every educator & coach can recognize a mile away and
understand exactly what is happening. All while his friends surround them
laughing, taking pictures, and nudging one another with that telltale “wink”
that says, “Look what Nick is doing.” All extreme acts of disrespect and
dishonor to any elder in any culture.
And after the past couple of days, I am angry, disgusted,
broken hearted, and heavy-hearted because of the number of white people who are
blinded by privilege and simply look past or don’t see the smirks and smug
looks on the faces of these boys; who willingly disregard the disrespectful
laughter and dishonoring stare into the Elder’s eyes; who refuse to ask, “Why
were the four black men so angry?”; who are unable and unwilling to recognize
the impact of the “spirit chant” upon this situation; and who stand with
unbended knee – stiffened by privilege, ignorance, and membership in dominant
culture – defending these white teenage boys instead of bending our knees and bowing
our heads in humility, seeking to learn and gain Common Memory, working to
build a new culture of community – the Beloved Community.
I do not and never did condemn any of the people involved in
this particular act in our Theater of Life. I do condemn the prideful and ignorant actions of these teenage boys. I do care about the actions and words of the other groups because I desire to learn why they are angry and why they are protesting. I care more about why my white dominant culture cannot bend our stiffened knees. And I stand by my initial statement. “If
you do not condemn these actions, YOU are part of the problem. It is time to
listen, admit, confess, lament, and humble ourselves. Kyrie eleison, Christe
eleison.”
