"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate.
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
- MLK Jr
Reverend King’s words still ring true, and apply even today to the struggle of all marginalized people to be treated as equals and to dispel the hierarchy of privilege imposed by Western Colonialist culture.
I hear these words, “Not now. It’s not your time. Wait for a ‘more convenient season’, as we have other priorities.” This saddens me.
Within the path of my own life, I see all too clearly the intersectional nature of the same forces that hold back people of color, the differently abled, the queer community, and transgender people. None of us quite fit the Western Colonialist culture. We are all seen as somehow living life improperly, due to factors beyond our control. There’s that taint of the broken concept of ‘original sin’, with our differences seen as somehow being more sinful, thus placing us lower on the hierarchy of privilege.
I think that even those of us involved with a faith that has no room for the concept of original sin have, by being raised and living within a Western Colonialist culture, incorporated the cultural concept into our patterns of thought and action. There is a subtle tendency to place obligation on those whom we see as somehow less worthy, less privileged or more damaged, even when our intentions are good.
We see this placing of obligation in patterns of speech, those little conversation starters and commentary that some see as harmless, but place obligations on the less privileged. These often carry demands that others justify their presence, or even their existence, demands that are simply not present between privileged peers. They may serve to put others in their place on a perceived hierarchy of privilege.
“No, where are you REALLY from?”
“Oh, did you see the dress he is wearing?”
“What are you?”
“You don’t act like a normal black person, ya know?”
“I just don’t understand why you’d want to mutilate your body.”
“No, you’re white.”
“You look just like a real woman.”
“No, I don’t do pronouns.”
We call these microaggressions, although there really is nothing “micro” about them to the person on the receiving end. Impact is rather different than intention, and whether a person is marginalized by nationality, race, orientation, ability, or gender identity, it hurts to be reminded of having less privilege. It hurts to be put in what others believe is our place.
It hurts to be told that it is not yet our time. It hurt when I was 15 years old, and it still hurts to hear this at age 65. I wonder if I will live long enough to see our time come.
I long for the day when I will not be viewed as being wrong for simply existing. I hope for the day when simply living as our authentic selves will be accepted by the world, rather than seen as proof of our unworthiness, our sin, our mental illness, or other codewords for hatred.
Is it possible to look to common cause, the intersectional source of much of the poor behaviors that we see as white supremacy culture, as homophobia, transphobia, and the other manifestations that come from Western Colonial culture’s assumption that there is only one right set of beliefs, appearances, and ways to live? Is it possible to move the conversation towards accepting diversity, not only in race, but in nationality, in ability, in gender, in sexuality and identity?
Or, are we advised to wait for “a more convenient season?”
“Letter From a Birmingham Jail”, King, Martin Luther, Jr. (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), April 16, 1963
“The Time Is Always Right to Do What Is Right”, Michelle Paquette, 2019
“Thoughts on Privilege”, Michelle Paquette, 2019
“TRUUsT Releases Report on the Experiences of Trans Unitarian Universalists"
https://transuu.org/2019/01/21/truust-releases-report/
"BORN BAD: Original Sin and the Making of the Western World”, James Boyce, Counterpoint, 2015
https://transuu.org/2019/01/21/truust-releases-report/
"BORN BAD: Original Sin and the Making of the Western World”, James Boyce, Counterpoint, 2015
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