A couple of weeks ago I joined some members of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters for a presentation sponsored by the Diversity Office of Sinclair Community College. We listened to a conversation between Jon Stewart and Bryan Stevenson featured on Stewart’s podcast, The Problem.
A Narrative of Difference
As a writer, I was especially struck by Stevenson’s naming the struggle for justice as a narrative struggle … a narrative of difference that has been shaped over centuries. This narrative undermines our ability to look at each other in a healthy and whole way and to talk with each other in order to resolve the challenges we face.
This narrative of difference leads to a way of viewing the world through an either/or lens and assigning more value to one of the sides.
- Good / Bad
- Light / Dark
- Superior / Inferior
- Positive / Negative
- Worthy / Unworthy
- Deserving / Worthless
- Highly evolved / Primitive
- Competence / Incompetence
- Human / Savage
- Responsible / Irresponsible
- Independent / Dependent
Tolerating the Unacceptable
Bryan named the consequences this narrative of difference makes for us as a people. It gives us license to justify tolerating and accepting what we would not otherwise accept … the end results of this false hierarchy:
- Violence … even mob violence … and death
- Beatings, drownings, lynching
- Genocide
- Terrorism
- Trying children as adults (13 states)
- Disempowering so-called “inferior” others
- Indifference to victimization … even blaming the victim
- Centuries of suffering
Parallels
As I listened intently to Bryan’s message, I could hear the parallels in the lives of women … specifically parents and caregivers … the topic of my last post, “Caregiving: The Reality” … what our legislators are willing to tolerate and accept.
Heather Cox Richardson’s words rang in my ears: “there is little to no social safety net for parents and caregivers in the USA. …investment in the social infrastructure that largely impacts women …”
Bryan himself pointed to the parallels … the things we are “comfortable with” when it relates to gender:
- Domestic violence
- Battering and beating
- Sexual favors, harassment, and violence in the workplace
- Rape
- Prosecuting women who have still births or miscarriages (on Bryan’s website)
I added a few of my own:
- Income disparities that keep women dependent on men, even violent men
- Keeping women in poverty
- Women providing the majority of parenting and caregiving … for free
- Low reimbursement for professional caregiving … mostly done by women
- Sexual abuse of children … by those in religious hierarchies
- Forcing raped and impregnated girls and women to give birth
- Rape as weapon of war
The list goes on and on
A “Narrative of Union”
Bryan noted that the history of our burdened nation is hard and complicated … that even though the Civil War ended, the “Narrative of Difference” is a war we continue to fight.
If we shift the narrative to reflect what we must do to get back on God’s side … as the Old Testament prophet, Micah, proclaimed …
… if we shift the narrative to reflect the justice and truths hidden in the language of our founders … language that excluded many because even they couldn’t grasp their own revolutionary self-evident truths:
- “We the People” … ALL of us are created equal
- ALL of us are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights …
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
… if only we shifted the narrative and garnered the courage to live in alignment with our founder’s profound vision of forming a more perfect Union
- establish justice
- insure domestic tranquility
- provide for the common defense,
- promote the general welfare, and
- secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity
Truth Telling
Until we do the hard work of truth-telling, we deny ourselves the beauty that is justice.
~Bryan Stephenson
If we could do this work of truth-telling justice … of creating a “Narrative of Union” … a lot of energy expended in fighting the “Narrative of Difference” war that seems never to end … we could be freed to live out our founder’s inspiring vision.
This post is my small contribution to the hard work of truth telling in the service of “We the People.” Tonight, I attended the first since the pandemic ended “in person” Southwest Ohio Braver Angels Alliance meeting.
The name of our country…UNITED States….does not tell the truth. Breaking the spells we are under, embracing truth tellers, and facing the facts these actions expose is gut retching work and can appear to separate us even more but needs to be done. While discussing some of the difficulties facing us right now one of my grandsons said, “How will we know the worst humanity is capable of unless it exposes itself.” Those words haunt me. We need spell breakers and truth tellers like you, Linda, to help us SEE what exists behind the curtain of the projected view of the UNITED States. Even our founders lived behind that veil/curtain. Running away from England and the servitude they experienced there only to condone servitude/slavery in their new country. The words they wrote are prophetic, incredibly inspiring, visionary and still not attained. Thank you for working so hard, researching to support what you are pointing towards That is real truth telling!!!
Having worked in the healthcare field, it became clear to me long ago that our country is divided. I used to say, “We live in the Divided States of America.” And that was way before polarization was in the news.
I must say, I am much better at writing my views than verbalizing them. I don’t think fast enough on my feet. I tend to listen and try to understand another viewpoint and formulate what I think about an issue. By the time I’m ready to speak, the conversation has moved on.
I can see why your grandson’s question haunts you. I hope we never have to experience the answer to that question. I tend to think our inertia is what will do us in rather than a big cataclysmic finality. But I sure could be wrong … with the fighting going on around a nuclear plant in Ukraine.
I have to give Bryan Stevenson most of the credit for this post. His conversation with Jon Stewart really inspired me. It was so rich. He’s the real truth-telling. I just made the connections with how what he sees applies to women … a concern I have because, obviously, I’m a woman. 🙂
Well said! I’m glad you shared this.
Thank you. Glad you let me know. 🙂
Well put! Thanks for your contribution to truth-telling!
Thank you. As I said to Diana, it is Bryan Stevenson who is the real truth-teller. I just piggy-backed on what he said and applied to the issue of women … and issue I’m passionate about.
Thank you, Linda, for your report on the meeting and your thoughtful analysis of the negative impact of the either/or narrative on women.
Thank you, Pam,
It’s disheartening what is happening in 2022 after all the energy women have put into trying to get our country to live up to its ideals. You have certainly put a lot of energy and passion into your concerns for social justice … including heading up the Women’s Center at UTS in the 1980s and with the books you have written. Sad that we won’t see all this come to fruition in our lifetime.