Looking Through the Neighbor's Window

"Love was the first motion, and thence a concern arose to spend some time with the Indians, that I might feel and understand their life and the spirit they live in, if haply I might receive some instruction from them, or they might be in any degree helped forward by my following the leadings of truth among them; and as it pleased the Lord to make way for my going at a time when the troubles of war were increasing, and when, by reason of much wet weather, travelling was more difficult than usual at that season, I looked upon is as a more favourable opportunity to season my mind, and to bring me into a nearer sympathy with them." -- John Woolman

"Broken Window" by Brad Smith

We know our families are not perfect. We do our best. Sometimes we try in earnest to solve some of the problems that weigh on our joy. Sometimes we just keep pushing through without looking at our problems. But looking at the problems our neighbors face, the solutions come into focus. And sometimes, if we pay attention, the window glass reflects back on our own world. And if the window glass does reflect back on our world, and if we do pay attention, it seasons our minds.

Maybe that's why, when people who have the same problems come together for support, they make more progress in solving their own problems. Perspective comes more easily when we connect with others. Negative self judgements become less harsh.

Day 6 of my personal #Woolmans14DayJusticeChallenge looks through our neighbor's window, as Joseph Harker, an African British editor for the Guardian, challenges his British readers to learn about how racism takes root. In the article, Harker is not looking directly at racism against people of African ancestry in Britain. The cases he cites do not involve people of African ancestry. He's looking through a neighbor's window.  Read "This is how racism takes root". The article is from July 2012.

Harker focuses on the process of racism taking root, and in doing so, he hits on three key tendencies of people who drew privilege in their birth lottery:

• Blame the Culture/Religion of the Criminal -- Harker notes the different reactions from native British to the arrests of  British men who preyed on vulnerable girls. People were much more interested in discussing the crimes of British men with other than British ancestry. When the predators were of non-British ancestry, many attempted to find the seeds of the crimes in culture and religion that are not traditionally British. When the predators were of British ancestry, that method of examination was a non-starter. And so the story of the arrests of the native British men went silent.
• Blame the Culture/Religion of the Victim -- Harker also talks about the importance of the ancestry of the victims. If the victims are of native British ancestry, they are simply victims.  If the victims are of other ancestry, then the problem may be found in the culture or religion of the victim.
• Look for spokespeople to explain/defend the other culture/religion -- Ask people who share ancestry with either the criminal or the victim to either face the fact of the flaws in their culture/religion or defend their culture/religion.

On the third point, Harker writes: "Imagine if, after Anders Breivik's carnage in Norway last year, which he claimed to be in defence of the Christian world, British people were repeatedly asked whether they supported him? Lumped together in the same white religious group as the killer and constantly told they must renounce him, or explain why we should believe that their type of Christianity – even if they were non-believers – is different from his. "It's nothing to do with me", most people would say. But somehow that answer was never good enough when given by Muslims over al-Qaida. And this hectoring was self-defeating because it caused only greater alienation and resentment towards the west and, in particular, its foreign policies."

Harker's piece is about racism in Britain. But it all applies to racism in the US. In the case of Michael Brown, an eighteen-year-old African American, unarmed man, who was shot and killed, his hands in the air, surrendering to the European American police officer who was shooting at him, many European Americans laid blame squarely on Michael Brown. Many European Americans sympathized with the "poor cop" who killed Michael Brown. People who believed the killing to be a senseless, racially motivated execution by a cop who was frustrated by his own lot in life needed to defend African American culture in the US. This is what people in other countries see when they look through our window.