Educating People to Love One Another Is the Only Way to Eradicate Racism

Until we change our hearts, we will not change our minds.

The last civil rights movement took place in the 1960s. Notice I said last. We’ve decided to have another in the middle of a pandemic. It’s both frightening and exhilarating. It could be a change for the better.

It could be the change we need. Finally!

But will anything change? Will the death of one black man, George Floyd, spur the change we so badly need to begin to heal the evils of racism?

History is repeating itself, as it often does. We’ve reached critical mass and this one isn’t going to get swept under a rug. Will Smith got it right when he said that nothing has changed; the only difference is that it is now being recorded. Like numbers, videos do not lie.

People have reacted swiftly. There are angry signs and even angrier people. Some are protesting peacefully and some are looting. Police reaction is varied, some taking the knee out of respect, others brutalizing peaceful protestors.

A Facebook post showed protestors protecting a police officer who had been separated from his squad and was being threatened. Another showed protestors blocking the entrance to a store as looters attempted to enter.

There is no excuse for violence, but some good things are happening.

Lawmakers and leaders are speaking out. In Boston, my hometown, Representatives Russell Holmes, Bud Williams, and Chynah Tyler are sponsoring the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) bill.

“The special commission shall study and recommend the structure of a 40 commission, council or board on peace officer standards and training with adequate authority to 41 set standards for the hiring, training, ethical conduct and retention of law enforcement officers, 42 through certification, licensing, or an equivalent methodology…..”

It’s a good start. The structure of law enforcement needs an upgrade. But will it make a difference? You can tell people what is right and wrong, mute their ugly words, and control their behavior to a certain degree.

But no government can decree an end to racism, hatred, or inequality because you can’t change what people think or feel. That change needs to come from within.

Can it happen? Yes, it can. In fact, it has.

Examples of history in film

Schindler’s List (1993) is the true story of Oskar Schindler, a man whose heart, and eyes, opened. He didn’t hate the Jews; he just didn’t care about them. He was guilty of indifference. But in one moment, he rejects this indifference and creates the list that saved thousands of lives and countless generations.

As a privileged member of the Nazi party living in a Jew’s apartment, we see him riding his horse to the top of a hill where he witnesses the clearing of the Warsaw Ghetto. The scene is black and white, except for one tiny figure in a red coat.

Flash forward to the psychopathic Nazi Kommandant, Amon Goeth, standing in front of a pile of bodies complaining to Oskar Schindler, “Look at this. Now I have to burn them and get rid of all evidence. Do you believe it?”

Schindler spots the red coat, a symbol of the slaughter of innocent Jews, and at that moment is transformed. He goes from indifference to heroism.

The Best of Enemies (2019) is a film set in Durham, NC in 1971. Black civil rights activist Ann Atwater and Klu Klux Klan leader C.P. Ellis are forced to lead opposing factions when a fire damages the “black” school” and the only way to continue the school year is through desegregating the remaining white school.

The outcome of this movie was such that when the credits rolled, I was shocked to see that it was a true story. I’ll leave it at that. Watch the movie.

Talk about transformation.

There The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a man who hated white people and after a journey to Mecca, the spiritual center of Islam, was able to say, “There are white men I now call brothers.”

Amazing Grace (2006 film) is the story of the experience of crewman John Newton on a slave ship. He converted to Christianity and became a significant influence in the abolitionist movement. It certainly was through grace that he was able to recognize the suffering of fellow human beings.

And if you’ve never seen Remember the Titans (2000), take a look at the journey of not only a football team but the lives of the people in the town. It wasn’t about one person’s change. An entire community learned to accept desegregation and work together.

These films are real-life examples of how people opened to change. It let us experience this change, this history second-hand.

So it is possible. But how do we spread the grace these people experienced? It’s a matter of opening your heart.

Look to your heart for change.

“Your vision will become clear when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside dreams, who look inside, awakes. ~ Carl Jung

Hatred is flourishing. And it will continue to do so until we find a way to open our hearts and accept and respect one another. You cannot demand that someone open their heart. You can demand that they act a certain way, say, or don’t say certain words, and resist their feelings.

But you can’t make someone feel a certain way any more than you can force them to love you.

Policy and law can mute voices of hatred and discrimination and control people’s actions, but it’s a forced behavior like the little Dutch boy putting his fist in the damn. The flood is held back temporarily, but until the hole is repaired, the pressure will eventually cause the damn to explode.

Pass the law or the policy, but at the same time, create a platform whereby people experience one another as individuals, not as a race or religion. This experience, like in the movies listed above, will open people’s eyes.

And their hearts.

What the religious leaders are saying

Pope Francis

“Leaders of all religions, he said, “have an important mission: that of spreading among their faithful the principles and ethical values that are written by God in the heart of every person.” ~ Pope Francis

In 2020, Pope Francis held the World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism, and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration to discuss racism with other Christian leaders.

He made the statement above, emphasizing the heart. It alludes to the fact that our values and principles are there, written indelibly by a common creator. So it is there waiting for the light to enter and reveal the truth.

You can’t see without light.

Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Zen Master and Vietnamese Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about building a “Beloved Community.” Since King’s death, Hanh has worked to make this shared dream a reality.

ARISE (Awakening through Race, Intersectionality, and Social Equity) is a community in Magnolia Grove, Batesville, MS, one of Hanh’s US practice centers and the brainchild of Hahn and the later Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is described as a “community of mindfulness practitioners and monastics who come together to heal the wounds of racial injustice and social inequity.”

King’s wanted to create a beloved (global) community. He said it “will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” On a small level, this has happened in Magnolia Grove. It’s a start and proof that change is possible with hard work and dedication.

King nominated Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, calling him an “apostle of peace and non-violence.”

Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, Washington, DC

“Despite the great blessings of liberty that this country offers, we must admit the plan truth that for many of our fellow citizens, who have done nothing wrong, interactions with the police are often fraught with fear and even danger.” ~ U.S. bishops, Open Wide Our Hearts

In a document entitled “Open Wide Our Hearts,” a Pastoral Letter Against Racism by the Archdiocese for Military Services in Washington, DC, reference is also made to changing one’s heart.

“Only a deep individual conversion of heart, which then multiplies, will compel change and reform in our institutions and society.”

The letter encourages us to do four things.

• Listen to stories of racism and discrimination.
• Addresses both individual and systemic racism.
• Think about what you can do.
• Examine your conscious.

How is a heart opened?

Taking the above-referenced films and words from the world’s spiritual leaders as examples, I would say that hearts open through experience. People had moments where they saw groups of people as individuals, people like themselves. The connection was made between the mind and the heart.

Personally, I know that I have judged people harshly only to realize my error when I found out more about their circumstances. For example, I was bullied as a youngster and live in the same town I grew up in. I’ve discovered that some of the bullies were victims of domestic abuse. And worse.

It doesn’t excuse their behavior, but learning about their situations gave me a new perspective. We will never be friends, but this knowledge shined a light and allowed me to forgive and let go. It did soften my heart a bit and my softer heart has been easier to carry around.

All people have stories and a reason for being the way they are. It’s called history.

If we can see one another as individuals, people like us, I believe we can work toward opening our hearts and to the possibility of change. It’s something we’ll have to work toward.

With time we can learn to let the light in and let our hearts speak to us.

Until then, we’ll use policy and law to guide our behavior.