What I find simply amazing is how millions of people can listen to or watch the same speech or event, and each will have their own interpretation.
Something in our human existence allows each one of us to craft our own belief about our experiences, and it makes each individual unique. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, because it's not. It's what has led us to advance throughout our existence, and is what will either save us or doom us in the end. I'm not passing any judgment on it - just noting it's significance.
The reason I bring this up is the response to Barack Obama's recent speech on racism in America, brought about by comments his spiritual adviser and close friend has made in numerous sermons. It's interesting how wide the range of reactions has been. Some, including my professor at Fordham, Paul Levinson, have suggested that the speech was a huge step in race relations , perhaps one day to be ranked with Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream Speech". Others vehemently declare that Obama's refusal to condemn the remarks is proof that he agrees with them, and that this will be his downfall. How can it be both one of the greatest speeches in history and the nail in the coffin of a campaign at the same time?
Human perception is truly amazing.
If you have a moment, take a look at this article from the History News Network. Whether you agree or not for this specific case, I thought it was an inspiring reflection on Obama's decision regarding this pastor, and how, in the grand scheme of things, we need to stop scapegoating others so we can lead better lives.
I'd like to take a moment to continue with the idea of perception in politics, but to step away from the Obama issue. While I was thinking about the statements I made above, I started thinking that while there might not necessarily be a one hundred percent truth in this crazy world of ours, we should be able to come to a consensus on SOME things. Obviously we all have our own biases and personalities that will alter how we understand our world, but we should be able to look at certain things and agree. It reminded me of a line from a Lewis Black comedy routine, when he was talking about this issue of how we can never agree on anything:
"...and there has to come a point where Democrats and Republicans... where we see a piece of footage and we just agree on what the fuck reality is. And the fact is, you cannot show video of a Land Rover running over a cat and then say 'The cat was trying to kill itself. I'm going to need at least 3 days to find the note that he left.'"
You can take a look here if you like
Yeah, it's a comedy routine, I get it. But it made a lot of sense. Certainly we are all going to have different opinions on almost every issue that comes up. But there does come a time when we need to stop allowing our elected officials to spin what's going on into a story that will simply calm us down and work to their benefit. This election has the potential to turn into one of these watershed moments, and we might indeed have the chance to hold our politicians accountable for their past actions, to send a message to anyone newly elected, and to make sure they understand that their promises need to be kept. Using our own perception is one thing - allowing someone else to tell you what to perceive is dangerous. We need to understand what is important for the American public as a whole, and demand it to happen.
4 comments:
I don't know if you saw it yesterday evening on the Daily Show, but Jon Stewart had a field reporter who talked about african-american issues in politics. One of the topics up for discussion was NY Governer Patterson as the first black governer in NY history. The reporter, obviously in character, talked about how Patterson being the governer was a victory solely for black people in America. He went on to say that it wasn't a victory for blind people though (many people aren't aware that Gov. Patterson is about 90% blind). It was comical/cynical that it couldn't have been both... Obvious Daily Show material.
Comical/cynical, but I think all too true in most cases. Someone gets to win, but then there needs to be a loser too. Of course, based on everything that has come out, drug users and unfaithful husbands might be seen as victors in this case too - although maybe those are already too common in high offices.
Good post Matt.
I may be way off base on this, but I think most people have virtually no personal experience of any real depth with people of other races. By virtue of being outnumbered significantly so-called minorities understand more about white mainstream America than vice versa, yet there is still only a surface understanding.
White America, by and large, spends no time in communities where the minority is the majority. Most White Americans have little understanding of what minority status is like. There's a huge disconnect about power, values, cultural hegemony, and disparate distribution of resources from top to bottom in a society where Whites hold the keys to the house.
In the end, Obama's speech was the most honest political attempt at pointing this out that we've seen. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it rivals King, or Cornel West for that matter, but it was an important and mature speech. It was also risky. I think it will pay off for him in the long run, but I don't expect it will make Whites, Blacks, Latinos, or Asians move closer to one another in any substantiative way. That's for each of us to do on our own.
Good post - perfect top image!
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