Let's Pull Racism Up from Its Roots

Issue 73

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When unsightly weeds run rampant in an otherwise beautifully manicured garden they are seen as an issue or problem. When they are cut down or pared back at or above the surface of the ground, one might argue that the problem of the unsightly weeds has been managed — they are now unseen. Perhaps there’s even a weed management practice or program in place for when they grow back, which is guaranteed because everybody knows that for the weeds to cease being an issue in the garden, they need to be pulled up by their roots. That’s when they disappear, the problem is no more, there’s nothing to manage, and all that remains is choosing what will be created with the vast amounts of energy formerly invested in managing the problem.

There is, conscious politics practitioner, a virulent weed known as racism running rampant in our body politic. It has been with us since the start and we have gone to great lengths — over hundreds of years — to manage it. We have tried to manage it with denial and avoidance. We have tried to manage it with suppression and downplaying. We have tried to manage it with war and violence. We have tried to manage it with constitutional amendments and legislation. Yet the insurrection propagated by American citizens at and in our nation’s Capitol one year ago plus the subsequent legislative machinations since then by Republicans in state houses across the country under the rubric of “election integrity” is all the evidence a body politic would need to appreciate that managing the problem of racism isn’t doing a damn thing to solve it. Solutions require something else.

It so happens that the work I do in the world is about solving problems — by pulling them up from their roots. In the lives of humans, the roots of problems are beliefs. To wit: Is the problem that I am being passed over for promotions at work or is the problem that I believe I don’t have what it takes to succeed? Is the problem that she can’t seem to settle into a sustained, healthy relationship or is the problem her belief that she’s unlovable? Is the problem an insurrection by American citizens last year or is the problem that a significant number of Americans believe that some of us are superior to others of us?

When we move out of judgment into that place of presence where everything just is, problems are actually only problems relative to what’s wanted. The unsightly weeds are only a problem if the garden owner wants a visually clean and vibrant show piece. My being passed over for promotions is only a problem if I want to succeed beyond what I’ve achieved so far. A string of reasonably brief, unhappy, unsatisfying relationships is only a problem for someone who desires a lasting, healthy one. An insurrection fueled by avowed White supremacists and others is only a problem for people who desire to live in a safe, secure, multi-racial, multi-cultural, equitable society that works for everyone.

Is the problem an insurrection by American citizens last year or is the problem that a significant number of Americans believe that some of us are superior to others of us?

When, as individuals, we have a desire but also a belief that is antithetical to our desire, we have a few choices. We could:

• believe that managing the conflict between what we want and what we believe is how life is and hope for the best

• give up what we want

• give up the belief we have that doesn’t comport with what we want

Option three, right? Of course option three. And it’s no different when it’s a collection of individuals like our American society. Those of us who want to live in a multi-racial, multi-cultural, mature, democratic society, a country of laws, equally applied, where everyone’s basic needs are met and freedom to pursue happiness is unimpeded, definitely have a problem. But the problem isn’t the insurrection or that political violence is on the rise. It’s not that one of our two established political parties has ceased to function democratically. It’s not that we have an unevenly informed citizenry. The problem isn’t President Biden or Leader McCarthy or Speaker Pelosi or The Former Guy or The Proud Boys or The Democrats or Q-Anon or The Senate or The Republicans — though all of this unwieldy, weed-like energy must, for the time being, be managed. It’s here. The problem is that enough Americans believe that some of us are superior to others of us. And that belief — held widely enough — precludes the rest of us from enjoying Life in a society that works for everyone.

Yet when we address problems at the level of belief, we solve them and their ill effects cease. “I don’t have what it takes to succeed” transforms into “I can be, do, or have whatever I desire.” “I’m not lovable” transforms into “everyone is lovable.” “Some people are superior to others” transforms into “we are all created equal.” Everything is energy, after all, and energy transforming from one thing into another is all that’s ever really happening on this planet to which we belong anyway.

Americans eager to live in a society that works for everyone — regardless of party affiliation, level of consciousness, station, or position — must be willing to espouse at every possible turn some version of “I believe we humans are equal to one another.” This is especially true of officeholders, candidates, campaigns, and activists. “Both sides” politics and culture journalists would then be compelled to ask their interviewees what they believe just as they now sometimes ask them if President Biden was legitimately elected.

We do not need everyone who holds the “some of us are superior” belief to change it, but we must invite and inspire the many who are persuadable — through a multitude of compassionate, affordable, and effective ways — relegating the remainder to the margins where they can be…managed. Whatever collective effort will be required to solve racism by pulling it up from its roots will pale in comparison to the effort that will be required to manage its ill effects forever.

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