What were we thinking?

Have you ever had a time when you looked back on something you did and wondered "what was I thinking? why did I do that?  Of course, we all have. And we have as a people looked back at things our country has done and asked "why did we do that? why did we allow that?" Why did we treat people as second class citizens on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, or national origins?

And in most instances we changed how we act now and made amends for the past. We paid reparations to the families of Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII, we instituted affirmative action programs to try and make up for the lingering disparity of education opportunity created by racial discrimination.

We all recognize and seek to make corrections for the past because we clearly see our nation's errors. but I believe we need to go a step further. We need to recognize that each generation makes their own errors and it isn't always apparent until the next generation calls them out on it. We need to ask ourselves "what are we doing now that future generations will look back  on and ask "why?"

For you see we are often blind to our own biases, our own prejudices, our own privilege.Acknowledging our own privilege is not a matter of guilt, but rather of awareness. As a WASP(white , anglo-taxon, protestant) I will never be profiled, never have to face the prejudice of appearance or association. As a straight guy I will never had to deal with the discrimination and barriers to fair treatment and equal opportunity suffered by women and the LGBTQ community.

And there are three things I must do based on that. One I need to acknowledge the opportunity that I do have and be grateful for it. Two, recognize that there are many, many who do not have that opportunity but rather face barriers because of differences. And third, I need to reach out to help those who are disadvantaged and seek to help, not out of guilt, but simply because I have the resources to help and out of human decency.

We need to be forward looking and work to not make the mistakes of the past. And be self-aware of our assumptions, our own biases, and the fact that not everyone is like us.An example for me is: I am an early bird. I am writing this at 6:30 in the morning after taking a walk at 5am on Saturday. Many people I know are still asleep. They are not wired like me. And that is okay. But my wife, who is a night owl (and consequently asleep) once worked for a company where the management was all early birds and not only expected everyone else to be one too, but looked askance at anyone who wasn't , and it affected performance reviews. She did not last there long.

Realizing that not everyone is like you, doesn't have the same reactions as you, and that that is okay, is maturity. It can help us avoid errors and support the common good. If we step into other people's shoes, even for just a moment, we can act in a way that will help all people, not just those who look, sound, behave , or believe like us.

In the next several weeks I would like to examine the past and help us recognize trends that will help us avoid assumption errors in the present , to make for a better future. I would be happy if you could join me in the journey.   ------next up "Uncle Joe".