Racism and Training

These days, racism is a hot topic. There’s a lot to say about it. I’m far from an expert on the subject. I was taught, like most I guess, to treat people the same, at least in the sense that ethnicity shouldn’t and doesn’t matter. Outwardly I was taught this. I, like most, also picked up thousands of subtle lessons that were not explicitly “taught.”  Movies, the media, they all steer us to certain stereotypes that provide us barriers that we have to consciously overcome. Even in my own family, if it became necessary to refer to someone as black or Jewish, it was always done in hushed tones.  Times have changed, I told myself.

So anyway, I found myself recently frustrated about having to pick apart and dissect every word coming out of my mouth for fear of being racist – or at least being called racist.

I was thinking about this while learning a new Jo Kata (actually, one I used to know a long time ago). I have to move in ways I’m not used to. Familiar things are wrong in this new context. Some movements are backwards. The flow is different. The counting is different. I have to focus on every little detail, and slow it way, way down (for now), to carve those new pathways in my brain. It's really uncomfortable.

So it occurred to me that maybe the process of picking things apart and dissecting every word coming out of my mouth is part of a learning process, too. Maybe having labels and boundaries and rules is all part of taking baby steps to a greater understanding – even if it is frustrating and sometimes almost debilitating. Not maybe. I know this. But sometimes I forget.

So maybe one way to think about the recent protests is to consider them a call for us – for society in general -- to take some refresher courses in treating people with equal respect, compassion, and trust, no matter their ethnicity. Refresher courses are where you slow everything waaaay down, focus on every stinkin’ little detail, and develop muscle memory that maybe we’ve forgotten (or never had in the first place).

Deep breath. Back to that kata.