Once again, I spent part of my day substitute teaching; this time it was language arts. The students were quiet as they took a long vocabulary test and then opened With Every Drop of Blood, a Civil War novel by James and Christopher Collier, reading until the period ended. I took advantage of the time and read the novel myself. It tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a Southern boy, Johnny, and one of his captors, a Black Union soldier named Cush Turner. As the boys become friends, they realize the erroneousness of many stories and stereotypes about Blacks and Southerners they had learned growing up.
At one point, after Cush s fierce desire to learn to read and his reverence for Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg address surprised Johnny, he began to rethink his assumption that Black slaves were inherently inferior to their white masters, and realized that he had never considered anything from the point of view of the slave. Through conversation with Cush, Johnny was able to do that, and what he learned surprised him. Johnny was thoughtful and honest with himself and the experience changed him.
The Southern born fourteen-year-olds openness to seeing the world through someone elses eyes makes me aware of the growing lack of such openness today. Particularly, some current events come to mind: The arrest of Faisal Shahzad brings terrorism again to headlines and news programs. How to understand what motivates such a person? How do we perceive Muslims in general after an attempted terrorist attack? How good are we at looking at ourselves through the eyes of others?
The immigration bill in Arizona is another red flag signaling the need for each side to view the concerns of the other with a biblical social justice perspective so the problems of immigration can be addressed humanely.
Other issues point to continued polarization within this country. One of the most surprising was the statement made to Neil Cavuto of Fox News by former FEMA director, Michael Brown: that the oil spill was “exactly what they (the Obama administration) want, because now he can pander to the environmentalists and say, ‘I’m going to shut it down because it’s too dangerous.’ While Mexico and China and everybody else drills in the Gulf, we’re going to get shut down.”
Mr. Brown is upset that President Obama ordered new drills to be halted until the cause of the spill and the possibility that modifications in the technology used might prevent future spills. This seems reasonable to me. I am quick to write off opinions such as Mr. Browns as inflammatory and purposely divisive. What might I learn looking at the situation through his eyes? I dont know.
I dont imagine many people on either end of the political spectrum in the US will be inclined to consider the others viewpoint. As Mr. Obama pointed out last weekend in his address to University of Michigans graduating class, civility is missing in public debate. The atmosphere is toxic (My words, not his), poisoning attempts at compromise.
Issues of race, states rights, and economics sat at the heart of the civil war. What sits at the heart of our present predicament of animosity and distrust? Is if fear? Fear that we will need to change? That the other will take these things from us? Fear of the unknown other? Perhaps, like Johnny and Cush, being thrown into life-threatening circumstances that demands cooperation for survival, will be the only way we will develop openness and transcend our fear and suspicion.
© Mary van Balen 2010
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