By Sosamma Samuel-Burnett
Founder/President, G.L.O.B.A.L. Justice
I am neither White nor Black. But I am a person of color who was born in another country, raised in yet another country, and grew up in this country as an immigrant. I have faced racism and discrimination directly in my life, in my family's life, and in various ways. I have directly worked on issues of race with my own organization and with various other advocacy and policy organizations for 30+ years. Yet, I have been told by some that I don’t know discrimination, racism, or what it means to be a person of color.
I am a Woman. I have faced gender discrimination, sexism, and sexual assault in my life. I also have worked directly on a range of women's issues through my own organization and through other advocacy organizations for 30+ years. Yet, I have been told by some that I don’t know the situation of women.
I am neither a Democrat nor Republican, neither Left nor Right. I choose to vote independently based on my beliefs, knowledge, and experiences. I have worked on voting and related issues from my school years to the present. I have been very concerned about the polarizing impact of the political extremes on issues of justice. Yet, I have been presumed by some to be Left or Right not based on my views but based on others views.
I hold a degree in International Politics. I have studied, worked, and taught on topics of politics, international issues, and public policy for 30+ years. Yet I have been told by some that I don’t know the issues that affect politics and international concerns.
I hold a degree in Law. I have spent most of my professional life serving as an advocate for those who are most vulnerable. Yet I have been told that I don’t know various issues affecting those populations.
I have studied and worked my entire academic and professional life on issues of civil and human rights. I also have taught courses on Constitution & Civil Rights and International Relations and Human Rights in undergraduate, graduate, and law school settings. Yet, I am told by some that I don’t know civil rights and human rights violations.
I am a Mother of three children. I care for them while also holding a full-time job. Yet, I have been told by some that I don’t know how hard it is to be a Mom let alone a working Mom.
I am a Wife to a Husband who is a Pilot and former Air Force aviator. While my husband’s work has taken him far away for days, weeks, or even months, I have had to take care of our household solo. Yet, I am told by some that I don’t know how difficult it is to be a single parent.
I am a Christian. My life is dedicated to trying to reflect Jesus' love. My understanding of Christ has been a spiritual, emotional, and intellectual journey that has been the most significant of my life. But I am told by some that Christianity and Christians are unloving and ignorant.
While I understand and appreciate that everyone has their own experiences, perspectives, and opinions, that understanding does not discount my own. I spent all of my life, time, and effort living, learning, and developing who I am, what I know, and what I believe – and I have to value that as well. Despite all the voices that try to contradict my reality, I am confident in who I am and what I believe. That is because I spent a lifetime getting here. I became what I am and what I believe through my own experiences over many years. The internet, social media, or others opinions did not make me -- my God and my life did.
But, I recognize that someone who has not walked in my shoes, has not known my story, and has not been a significant part of my life, may make incorrect assumptions about me and my perspectives. People who do not know us, do not know what we think or know, who do not have a relationship with us, can draw conclusions that contradict our life’s experience. The assumptions others make are not usually ill-intended, but they do have consequences – both for the individual and for society as a whole.
My own experiences with assumptions and contradictions from others and from society have taught me an important lesson. Without relationship, there is limited context for understanding. When someone doesn’t know or understand your story and perspective, they draw inaccurate assumptions of you or your views based on their own perspectives and their own contexts. That then prevents both individuals from truly seeing or understanding one another or their respective points of view or reference.
Thus, recognizing the assumptions we are making about someone else may be a first step in addressing various injustices – including racism, sexism, and other significant issues in our world. Breaking down our inaccurate assumptions helps break down stereotypes, disagreements, and even hatred based on such assumptions. By engaging with one another to understand each other’s life experiences and points of reference, we are less likely to make inaccurate assumptions and more likely to consider the other’s point of view and how they got there. But the process of engaging and understanding another starts with each person looking within themselves rather than pointing out to others first.
If we looked in, we would likely realize more about who we are and how we got there. We also may gain greater confidence in our views but also greater humility in our pathways. More so, we may realize that the great injustices in society including racism, sexism, and other divides and conflicts are not rooted so much in the “system” as in the deeper and more complex places of individual and community culture and understanding. Injustices are often a product of incorrect assumptions and contradictions, but they stem from a lack of love, understanding, and wisdom.
Love, understanding, and wisdom are basic building blocks for individuals, families, and communities, but basic does not mean simple. They are difficult to achieve and require mutuality to be fully realized. Although we can make some impact in our lives with “one way” love, understanding, and wisdom, mutuality is what exponentially grows the impact of these elements and extends to society as whole. We each have a mutual responsibility to both give and receive love, understanding, and wisdom in all contexts – and that is difficult.
To overcome injustices such as racism or sexism, mutuality of love, understanding, and wisdom is particularly important. Both the victim and the perpetrator, both the individual and society, have roles and responsibilities in addressing problems. It may be difficult for a victim of a hate-crime, for example, to face a perpetrator of that crime, with love, understanding, and wisdom. But without that, we are left with the results of the crime – usually loss and anger – rather than resolution of the circumstances or prevention of future concern.
While righteous anger is valid in response to societal wrongs, it is distinct from retaliating anger. When we are angry about how we have been treated, the temptation is to lash out. Lashing out because of harm, often creates more harm, and does not prevent a future harm. We are then caught in a continuum of violence. We are forced to live with open wounds rather than seeking healing. Expressing anger through such backlash is not an act of justice but rather of retaliation. Retaliation may allow us to express our pain and hurt and anger, but it will not bring resolution in and of itself. Resolution is the harder work of discourse, exchange, mutuality from all sides to demonstrate a commitment to ending conflict. Otherwise the expression of anger only reveals the anger, and does not change hearts, minds, or culture that is at the root of the violation..
Addressing injustices such as racism and sexism requires us to push past anger and wounds, and get to the place of love, understanding, and wisdom. That place is not always comfortable, not always gentle, and almost never quick. But it starts from within and extends outward. Each time a significant issue arises, we each have to individually and collectively consider how that issue may relate to us and our understanding. And we must conscientiously set out to learn about one another through reflection on these and other key aspects of our personal and shared stories leading to the significant issue before us now.
The hard work of ending racism or sexism necessitates studying and addressing underlying political, social, and economic factors, but that is only part of the equation. The other, and perhaps harder work, has to do with our underlying personal and cultural reference points. It takes time, effort, and intentionally to dig into the factors that impact vulnerable people, people of color, women, and others. It may be even more challenging to consider our own experiences that create the assumptions and contradictions to our understanding and value of each other.
Until we come to a point in our lives and in our societies where we can shift from opinions and assumptions to mutual love and respect, we will always face walls, divides, and conflicts – and racism and sexism will persist. Throughout time, these are the results of lacking love, understanding, and wisdom. Perhaps that is why we are currently facing so many concerns in our society. We are reeling, struggling, fighting, because we have forgotten how to love, understand, and be wise together, especially in the midst of crises.
But each crisis we face, each significant issue, is an opportunity to demonstrate love, understanding, and wisdom. It is in these crises and issues that we put these elements into action. We can discover who we really are and see who others really are. But when we face challenges with assumptions, criticism, fear, anger, division, violence, etc., we are neither exercising those elements nor recognizing our greater selves.
Through each significant societal challenge, crisis, and injustice, we are called again to demonstrate these elements in increasingly complex ways and increasingly difficult contexts. There is much we can learn, not only about each other but about our history, our present, and our future. And that learning is the starting point toward understanding. Through that understanding we can develop wisdom and discernment. And ultimately our understanding and wisdom will lead us to more accurate conclusions and effective solutions. Fundamental to this process is love and mutuality – no one side can give all or fix all. It requires all to join in conversation, cooperation, and even compromise.
Injustices such as racism and sexism have existed since the beginning of time, and persist in our present time. But we have to recognize them in our present context. Although we might see resemblances to earlier times in our history, we are not living during the Colonial Era, American Revolution, Civil War, World War I or II, Civil Rights Era, etc., we are living in a different context and era. In the present context, we are called anew to learn through our personal and shared histories and knowledge to inform the way we can and should act and react to challenges of this era. The injustices we face in the 21st century are a reminder of what it means to love, understand, and be wise in a 21st century context.