I can honestly say I’ve been on a journey of discovery these past few months. A journey of personal discovery and a journey of understanding others better. It’s been a struggle at times to understand the responses I’ve seen to the two large issues we’re all dealing with: the global pandemic and race relations. It’s caused me to wonder at times about the heart of others and also my own heart. It’s been a struggle to keep my emotions under control when I hear or see things that go against everything I believe. Especially when it’s something that I feel doesn’t recognize the value we each hold as human beings on this earth.
In order to keep my heart, mind and soul right, I’ve done a lot of reading and writing. The reading part educates me and the writing part helps me figure out my thoughts. One book I’m reading that is making a tremendous impact in my life is, The Third Option, Hope for a Racially Divided Nation by Miles McPherson. This book has helped me in understanding the perspectives at play, and how an Us vs. Them environment has been created. This environment causes us to feel that we have to choose sides because there is no third option. The truth is there is a third option and that option is viewing each other through the eyes of our Creator as the special creations we are. This third option allows us to honor and respect each other’s perspectives and see each other as valuable. It gives each of us a voice.
There is work we have to do to get to that third option and that work is in our hearts. We need to understand how certain blind spots impact our ability to see each other as valuable and worthy of respect. Below I’ve pulled out the Nine Blind Spots that were identified in Miles McPherson’s book. While these are not all the possible blind spots out there, these are very relevant when discussing the issue of race. As you read them I ask you to reflect on how they may be blind spots you have or blind spots for people you’re trying to interact with.
Nine Blind Spots
1. I claim that I don’t have a racist bone in my body, but resist letting certain people get too close to my family.
When you claim that racism is a nonissue but become concerned about one of your children dating or hanging with friends of your out-group, you have a blind spot. An in-group is any group you identify with based on your race, religion, gender or profession. An out-group is those who aren’t part of your in-group. Is there an out-group that would make you react like this?
2. I claim all people are equal, but in my heart I believe that my ethnicity is superior to others.
You have a friend who’s of a different ethnicity, and you always invite them into your world, but you show no interest, never ask to be invited, nor accept any invitation to participate in theirs. You call them your friend and your equal, but in your mind, you are their helper, savior and safe haven. You insist on things happening on your turf and on your terms. Do you have a friendship that falls in this category?
3. I claim all people are equal, but I feel and act inferior to certain people because I’ve internalized the views of my critics.
This blind spot causes you to resent others who characterize you as “less than” but you unconsciously adopt those negative characterizations and reinforce those negative expectations in how you think about yourself and others like you. When culture constantly sends a message that people like you are not favored, you can internalize that message and become imprisoned in the inferior description of your critics. A telltale sign that this is happening is that you adopt the label of your critics and reinforce the beliefs about what you “cannot” do or become, because according to your critics, you are inferior. This self-hate or racial cannibalism is a form of internalized racism. Have you ever told yourself that you couldn’t accomplish something, or couldn’t rise above your current circumstances, because of what others have told you about yourself?
4. I resent being the victim of discrimination and stereotyping, but have no problem doing it to others.
Do you have a blind spot that causes you to treat others in the same ways you’ve suffered from mistreatment? If you find yourself attacking others, the first thing you need to ask yourself is: Is it possible I’m insecure about something? Often times, our attacks come from a place of insecurity that we may not even know is there. You cannot pull someone down unless you feel like you’re below them. Is your negative response to those who are different than you based on feelings you have about yourself?
5. I claim all people are God’s children, but treat some like they belong to another family.
How often do we dismiss people because they don’t look like people who we generally recognize as those in authority? The example he gave in the book was of a woman in a church who had a great idea for an outreach program but was dismissed until one of the other male pastors spoke on her behalf. The program is extremely successful now, ministering to many youth, but a blind spot by her pastors almost prevented it from happening. Have you ever dismissed the authority and ability of someone based on their race, gender, ethnicity, etc.?
6. I claim to acknowledge many perspectives in life, but I’m not willing to learn from any views that challenge mine.
You may have heard the quote, “We judge ourselves by our intent, but others by their actions.” When we believe our intuition is flawless, we quickly judge that someone else is being biased toward us, when in fact the only bias on display is our own. Honoring others involves treating every single encounter as a separate situation, and having a willingness to listen and learn from each person individually.
Those who are doing well in life often view society through the lens of a “just-world bias.” This is defined as a tendency for people to assume that the world is just and that therefore people get what they deserve in life. Just-world bias presumes that bad things happen to people who make bad choices, while good things happen to people who make good choices. It doesn’t take into account an individuals’ personal story or a people’s collective history, which is a critical element in understanding – not defending but understanding – why people feel or act the way they do. When you see obstacles keep popping up for some people that wouldn’t exist for others, causing them to give up in despair, it is difficult to simply chalk their failure up to their own fault. When you see people suffering from hardship, this blind spot will cause you to believe they must have made bad choices in life, and therefore they must be getting what they deserve. Have you found yourself feeling this way about others recently?
7. I’m an unintentional participant in a bigoted system, so I am insulated from the guilt of the bigotry.
This blind spot shields you from recognizing that you are supporting the biased garbage you consume. It also absolves you from recognizing that you are complicity in the bigoted intentions of those sources. Here’s a better approach to media consumption: Ask yourself if what you’re watching or listening to helps or hinders your ability to love your neighbor. Does it make you feel more justified in your biases, or does it foster a sense of compassion in your heart? Don’t make it harder on yourself to love your neighbor. Have you taken the active step to monitor what you feed yourself from the news and social media?
8. I claim that because racism doesn’t impact me, it doesn’t exist – or at least to the degree that people say it does.
A lot of people dismiss or minimize racism’s impact on certain groups of people, often sincerely, though sometimes purposefully – especially if acknowledging it requires them to make changes to their own worldviews or actions. It is difficult to wrap your mind around something that you have little or no experience dealing with. That’s why this blind spot often dismisses people who are affected by racism as “exaggerators”, which magnifies its damaging effects. Some who are affected by this blind spot turn a deaf ear and a mute tongue to opportunities for dialogue and empathy. Their underlying belief is that racism is not really that much of an issue from their perspective, so it can’t possibly be that much of an issue in someone else’s life. Has your own lack of experience with racism caused you to have a lack of empathy for those who have and continue to experience racism?
9. I don’t have any blind spots. I see things just fine.
We’re all suffering from a blind spot bias. This is the tendency to see oneself as less biased than most other people, or the failure to see the impact of biases on one’s own judgment and evaluations. This is exactly what pride wants you to believe: that you’re not part of the problem. We all play a role in perpetuating or allowing racial bias to affect our lives – by act of commission (conscious actions taken to perpetuate racism) or omission (things we don’t do but could, to alleviate the problem). The first step in addressing a problem is accepting the possibility that you might have one. Can you be honest enough with yourself to acknowledge you do have blind spots?
If you’ve taken the time to truly read through and reflect on these it should have been eye opening for you. For me it identified why I have reacted in certain ways and it helped to explain the reactions I’ve seen in others that I didn’t understand. The question now is what do you do with this information? Are you going to use it to change the way you approach discussions on race? Are you going to work to fix the blind spots you’ve identified within yourself? If we don’t address the blind spots it will be difficult to move forward to the point of truly seeing each other as worthy of respect and honor. It prevents us from moving forward to unity.
Evolution of Self!
#communication #discussions #racism #healing #journey #blindspots
