Have you ever been afraid to turn the TV off, afraid that something catastrophic may happen and you will be found wanting?
This is how I’ve been feeling since Wednesday, January 6. Early in the afternoon I ran an errand and returned home in less than an hour.
As I was entering the door, I heard the familiar ping of a new message on my phone.
I took the phone out of my bag, quickly glanced at the messages and read, “White entitlement is on display in the nation’s capitol. Look long and hard and do not forget this moment.”
I called the friend who had sent the text and immediately ran upstairs and turned on the TV. Turning off the TV has been a struggle for me every day and every night since then.
I will never forget what I saw then and the images that continue to play in my mind.
What we saw on Wednesday was a generational story, one that is deeply embedded in the American psyche, a story of white body privilege, playing out before our very eyes.
Even the young ones, our children and grandchildren, recognized the stark contrast in the way in which “homeland security” operates.
My 18-year-old granddaughter posted on FB, “I am horrified. This is not the kind of country I want to live in.”
My 16-year-old granddaughter said, “You know if those were black people, they would all be dead by now.”
The black body is always seen as a threat, even when peacefully protesting injustice. The white body, on the other hand, is given a pass to breach security because no one thinks of them as a threat.
“How could this happen?” Many have asked the question. In one sense, it may seem puzzling, but in another, quite clear.
When a story is nurtured, fed, cultivated, embedded in the culture, institutionalized, politicized, passed on from generation to generation, and ultimately given a platform of power, we get what we saw on Wednesday. The story lives in the body.
America is in the middle of a real live hostage drama playing on the world stage. The curtain has dropped on Act I. And the world waits with baited breath for the next scene to unfold.
The generational story of white body privilege calls for a healing of history, a tall order indeed. Let the cultural workers, the artists, the content creators in every genre, the therapists, the educators, the priests and pastors, the healers of every modality, every discipline and every profession heed the call.
We can change the story if we choose to commit to a “healing of history.”
What generational gifts can you offer to the emergence of a new human story? I would love to hear from you. Comment below and let me know.
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