August 31, 2014
Through the Eyes of Others
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
(TriceEdneyWire.com) —There’s an old saying, "There is none so blind as (s) he who will not see." My initial understanding and the evolved significance of that statement have come to shape how I view and interpret many of the events that impact my life, community and country. That admission rings more than true as I reflect on the events of the last several weeks and many others in my lifetime of experiences. I speak specifically to the value I see placed on the lives of others and the value of life that’s seen and acknowledged when others look at me, and those who look like me.
If history shows us nothing else, we have been provided numerous examples of how easy it is to brutalize any group of people and justify the brutality once they’ve been dehumanized in the mind and perception of the brute. The history of this nation's inhumane treatment of enslaved Africans, has been justified with their being characterized as sub-human or biblically as descendants of Ham who are obligated to be servants. During this nation's westward expansion, the treatment of Native Americans was made acceptable by characterizing them as "uncivilized savages". The killing of Japanese and Vietnamese opponents in war became easier by calling them "Nips", "Zips", "Slopes" or "Gooks". If we listen closely enough or pay attention, contemporarily, we will hear our Arabic adversaries called "Rag-head Niggers" or "Sand Niggers."
As I evaluate unfolding events in Ferguson, MO; Dayton, OH; NYC and an ever increasing list of places, the value perceived in the lives of Black males is minimal and, seemingly, grows less in each passing generation. The answers to the why of this are many, but I believe that until these questions are routinely and continually addressed in the national dialogue, chaos at the treatment of people of color, Black people in general, and Black males, specifically, will continue to be the norm.
The volatile reaction of Black residents of Ferguson should not be unexpected when we assess the history of their community policing or hear reports that residents were commonly referred to by those responsible for "serving and protecting" them as "animals" and "savages." I am at a loss to think that anyone could not understand the righteous indignation of the Ferguson community to being occupied by a quasi-military force of oppressors which embraces that mindset.
In the eyes of the oppressor, however, mustering that type of response to the community's outrage over the murder of one of their own was a natural first response and the correct method of maintaining proper "control”. Therein lies the crux of the problem. Those who oppress or commit acts with racially-based disparate impact don't see the wrong in what they do. Those who traverse life in judgment of others using stereotypes and false characterizations based on their limited experience seek no understanding beyond what they already know. Those who hold conscious or unconscious racial animus can only see life through the lens of their own correctness. Most evil are those who clearly understand their own aspirations for health, peace and happiness for for themselves, their families and friends; yet refuse to accept that others not like them hold similar aspirations.
If we’re to survive as a nation, we must quickly reject notions that have separated us into US and THEM and seek community. The abiding principle that makes a community is the individual's ability to look beyond self-interests to options that enfold the common good. Community is looking beyond what we singularly understand to objectively evaluate, not accept, beliefs and value-systems that exist outside our present understanding. To paraphrase Matthew McConaughey's character in the movie, A Time to Kill, "Look through someone else's eyes and imagine it was you."
(Dr. E. Faye Williams is President/CEO of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. www.nationalcongressbw.org)