The Global Conversation

Tag: racism

  • Unforgivable?

    There have been moments in my life when I have entertained unkind thoughts. I have also said things in my life that I do not feel proud of. And I can remember times when I have acted in ways that contradicted my best intentions. I suppose each and every one of us can remember at least one time in our lives when our thoughts, words, and actions were not in alignment with our Highest Self, instances when we functioned from a place of fear and not from a place of love, moments when we knew at a very deep and certain level that we had stepped off the path of clarity.

    However, fortunately for most of us, our mishaps, intentional or otherwise, were not instantaneously broadcast on national television, shared feverishly across thousands, if not millions, of internet websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter pages, or published in countless newspaper and magazine publications around the world simultaneously, as they have been in recent days for Paula Deen.

    Ms. Deen is being sued by a former manager at her restaurants, Lisa T. Jackson, in Savannah, Georgia, for sexual and racial harassment. Jackson’s lawsuit alleges that Deen and her brother, Bubba Hier, committed numerous acts of violence, discrimination, and racism that resulted in the end of her five-year employment with Deen.

    During a deposition in the legal proceedings, Paula Deen admitted to using racial epithets, such as the “N” word, tolerating racist jokes, and condoning pornography in the workplace, candid forthcomings that have landed her smack dab in the middle of a firestorm of sharp criticism and vilification from both the media and the public at large. Ms. Deen’s candor ultimately led to the swift decision by The Food Network to cancel her cooking show on their television station only one hour after she publicly offered her heartfelt apologies and begged for forgiveness from all those who have been affected by her choices and actions.

    I would like to be clear that I am not here to judge what Paula Deen did, or did not do, as being good or bad, right or wrong, defensible or indefensible. What I am interested in having a conversation about is: What happens now? How do we, individually and collectively, show up now in relation to this event and this experience? Do we attempt to drain and deplete Paula Deen of every ounce of goodness and joy that she has given to our world as a trade-off for the moments in which she forgot who she was? Do we punish her? Do we support her? Do we forgive her?

    Is forgiveness even necessary?

    In the book The Only Thing That Matters, we are offered the invitation to consider a radical new way of thinking: Forgiveness Forgone, a concept which says that forgiveness is not necessary when it is replaced, rather, with the more powerful energy of Understanding. If this concept is held as true, then the question becomes: What are we being asked to understand here? Are we willing to see through the thick layers of distortion – anger, fear, judgment – to understand that anything Paula Deen has said or done is truly an expression of love? Do we need to see to it that Paula Deen “loses everything” in order for us to feel as though we are “made whole”? Is that how it all works in this game of life?

    Perhaps the notoriety of situations like these offers us an opportunity to peer into our own personal relationships and notice where we are holding on to grudges or allowing tightly held resentment to dominate our choices. Is there anything in life that is unforgivable? Is there a “point of no return”?

    Perhaps the woes and sorrows of another famous face are unimportant to us as we move through the day-to-day affairs of our own lives. As with everything in life, we all get to decide for ourselves what it means. But for me, I can’t help but notice the many way in which these types of defining moments continue to appear, calling me, beckoning me, and inviting me to once again choose, declare, and ultimately experience who I really am.

    Who will you choose to be?

     

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • Here we go again…

    It wasn’t my original intention to have a two-part or continuing series in my column about this particular topic, but after last week’s piece about the controversy surrounding the Cheerios commercial and the racially driven outbursts which took place as a result of its portrayal of a bi-racial couple who are parents to a mixed-race daughter, it appears as though another opportunity has presented itself for us to enter into a thoughtful conversation around belief systems which thrive on and promote ideas of separatism and which attempt to control and dictate other human beings based upon nationality, physicality, skin color, age, sexual orientation, etc.

    Sebastien De La Cruz, 11 years old, a former contestant on the popular television program “America’s Got Talent,” was invited by the NBA to sing the National Anthem at the opening of Game 3 during the finals in San Antonio, Texas.  This adorable and wonderfully talented young man stepped courageously out onto the basketball court in front of thousands of onlookers and performed a rendition of the National Anthem that brought people to their feet, cheering with appreciation.

    However, unfortunately, Sebastien De La Cruz was also confronted with the same backlash as General Mills experienced in response to their Cheerios commercial by people who verbally attacked young Sebastien, slinging racial barbs at him on the internet, questioning whether his Mexican heritage deemed him “worthy” of singing the National Anthem, and harshly criticizing the fact that he wore a mariachi outfit during his performance.

    The comments that are being circulated are so offensive that I have chosen not to reprint any of them here.  And they most certainly aren’t instrumental in our ability to have a discussion around why and how a young boy — who happens to be an American citizen, by the way — can find himself on the receiving end of such seething hostility and distorted thinking.  What in the world could cause anyone to think and then actually rise to the level of expressing such oppressive and hurtful words to an 11-year-old child?

    Will there be a time when we eventually stop defining ourselves by “this” or “that,” “here” or “there,” “have” or “have not,” “better than” or “less than”?

    In response to the commotion, Sebastien De La Cruz has demonstrated himself to be a powerful force of wisdom and clarity.  “For those that said something bad about me, I understand it’s your opinion,” said Sebastien to CNN. “I’m a proud American and live in a free country. It’s not hurting me. It’s just your opinion.  Please do not pay attention to the negative people. I am an American living the American Dream. This is part of the American life.”  Sebastien said today was like any other day, but he’s always grateful to wake up to yet another day able to sing. He said he owes his positive outlook to his parents, family and everyone in San Antonio.

    Contrary to the negative energy swirling around this story, there has also been an overwhelming show of appreciation and support for Sebastien.  So much so that the San Antonio Spurs invited him back for an encore performance for Game 4.  Sebastien also received encouragement in the form of a Tweet from a very special fan:

    “Barack Obama:  Don’t miss @selcharrodeoro’s encore performance of the national anthem at the #NBAFinals in San Antonio tonight.”

    In closing, I share with you this from Conversations With God, Book 3:  “The level of a society’s advancement is reflected, inevitably, in the degree of its duality thinking. Social evolution is demonstrated by movement towards unity, not separatism.”

    And the question I proffer to you is:  Which one are we moving towards?

    Please enjoy this video of Sebastien De La Cruz’s performance:

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • Are you kidding me?

    I invite you to watch a short video clip.  It is only 31 seconds long. And after you have finished watching this particular video clip, which happens to be an advertisement for the well-known breakfast cereal Cheerios, I then invite you to explore your initial feelings and observations in relationship to what you just watched.

    This ad has created some surprising controversy, and I would like to give our readers here at The Global Conversation an opportunity to weigh in on your thoughts and opinions surrounding this advertising campaign.

    What do you think?

    What do you feel?

    Does anything strike you as odd or offensive?

    I heard about “the controversial Cheerios commercial,” and I have to tell you, before reading the story behind the firestorm, I watched this video clip two or three times and STILL could not figure out what the commotion was all about.  When I went on to read an article about the negative reaction this video prompted from a segment of our world’s population, I felt as though I stepped back in some peculiar and unforgiving time machine.

    Cheerios’ portrayal of a bi-racial couple, an African-American father and a Caucasian mother, both parents to a young mixed-race daughter, received so many negative and racist comments on YouTube — references to ‘Nazis’ and ‘troglodytes’ and ‘racial genocide’ – General Mills, the parent company of Cheerios, elected to disable the “comments” section underneath the video.

    With as much progress and forward movement we have made as a society, how is it possible that there are still so many people who haven’t progressed and who haven’t moved forward?  Maybe I am naive, but I continue to be transported to a place of disbelief, oftentimes simply having no words to express, when I hear of or stand witness to human beings who not only judge but actually interfere in the well-being of another based on what they look like, how they talk, how old or young they are, how fat or skinny they are, who they love, how they wear their hair and like to dress, what kind of house they live in, how much money they have, who they like to have sex with, what color their skin is, etc.

    When you watched this video, did you feel anything but affection and sweetness?  Contentment and warmness?  And maybe a sudden hunger for a bowl of Cheerios?

    Actor Charles Malik Whitfield, the man who plays the African-American father in the ad, supports the Cheerios ad wholeheartedly and recently spoke about it.

    “As an actor who happens to be African-American, I am very proud to be part of the forward-thinking Cheerios commercial produced by General Mills. I believe it represents what America stands for – regardless of race, creed or sexual preference. To all of the wonderful people who have supported this heart-warming and very adorable commercial, I applaud you all,” Whitfield said.

    In a statement to ABC News, Camille Gibson, the VP of Marketing for Cheerios said, “Consumers have responded positively to our new Cheerios ad.  At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families and we celebrate them all.”

    Well, today, I celebrate you, General Mills, for being at the forefront of a New Cultural Story in our world.   Not only does it make me want to buy Cheerios, it makes me just simply want to be more loving, more compassionate, more accepting, and more aware than I have already declared myself to be.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

     

  • I don’t hate you, though my shirt suggests I do

    “Every act is an act of self-definition.”

    If I hold this concept as true – and I do — who am I defining myself as if, when I engage in the seemingly simple exercise of selecting which articles of clothing to wear for the day, I choose to outfit myself with a t-shirt which displays a large rebel flag boldly front and center on my body?

    Brad Paisley, in his new song called “Accidental Racist,” is asking us to believe that people who don large rebel flags on their chests do so because it is an announcement of their affinity for the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and not because it symbolizes one of the largest examples of oppression, hatred, and racism towards an entire race of human beings.

    Paisley’s recently released song has ignited a firestorm of controversy surrounding his attempt to address racism and whether his efforts were ill-intended or well-intentioned, whether it was a desperate grab for publicity or whether it was a sincere effort to soothe and heal some deep, painful wounds from the past.

    The Confederate flag is one of the few symbols today that is both hated and loved, both vehemently denounced and proudly defended, both strongly resisted and loyally embraced.  Of course, the flag in and of itself – the type of fabric, the colors and design — holds no particular meaning, as does anything in life.  It is merely a construct of a variety of materials. Rather it is the meaning that we place upon it, the value that we give to it, that produces our experience of it.

    Nothing in life has meaning, save the meaning we give to it.

    The Confederate flag is only one example of what happens when segments of society cling unbendingly to external symbols that reflect an ideology or a belief system which, when held as absolute truth, serve to divide rather than unite.  It would not be difficult to list more ways we humans do this. But I think the more important inquiry here becomes, if we have any interest at all in creating the kind of world which produces the outcomes we all say we desire, what are we willing to do differently?  How are we going to redefine the ways we relate to and with each other?  If we know that our actions could be easily and largely confused to mean something different than what our purest intentions are, why are we continuing to make that choice?

    The title of Brad Paisley’s song plainly implies that the existing fallout of racism from those that came before us is “accidental,” that he should not be held responsible for his predecessors’ actions, nor are we able to re-write history.

    Personally, I find myself only being able to accept those two statements if the person declaring them is not making choices and engaging in actions that continue to resurrect, perpetuate, and carry forward the same energy which created the historical events giving rise to and sustaining experiences of racism in the first place.  We may not be able to “re-write history,” but what we are able to do is author a New Story.

    And this is the opportunity we have placed before us:  to decide, to declare, and to announce to the world this New Story which carries with it a New Awareness and a New Way of being in relationship with each other.  We have the option of continuing to embrace an accidental life of random occurrences — a life which is happening to us – or we have the opportunity to embrace a life of creation and intention – a life which is happening through us — one which reflects our ability to see with transparency the perfection within each other, one which produces an experience of interconnectedness simultaneously existing within our diversity, one which replaces thoughts of separatism with feelings of Oneness.

    Mr. Paisley himself makes the declaration at the end of his song that he is a “son of the new south.”  I wonder if abandoning the choice to wear a symbol that is likely, or even holds the slightest possibility, to be construed as a statement of superiority, intolerance, and separation is included as part of his “new” story?

    Every act is an act of self-definition.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)