On Monday we spent the day hearing stories of the struggles of South Africa and the incredible acts of positive change that each SAWIPPER has pursued. In the afternoon we spent time on an exercise regarding illegal immigrants. This started me thinking….a dangerous thing.
Already I have observed in myself and the team that we all have our own perspectives and opinions on just about every issue. Personally I’m still working out what I think about such things, I suppose that’s why I’m here. Someone once recommended considering why people are the way they are and say the things they say by considering the five E’s; their emotions, education, experiences, environment and ego. These are the things which shape our perceptions, our values and opinions.
In discussing diversity within our team and more generally our acceptance and reaction to difference in relation to immigrants, the words of Simone Weil, a wonderful French philosopher, Christian mystic and social activist, sprung to mind.
"Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand."
In diversity I urge myself to feel something, to seek to understand by placing myself on the side of the oppressed, and of “the other”. Much as I hate to think of myself this way, I am passively on the side of the crushing oppressor, maintaining current injustice by my lack of action.
And what will it take to awaken me from my passive stupor?
Again I look to Simone Weil, who herself from a privileged background, choose to identify and work with the oppressed factory workers in France. A tangible experience and exposure to difference and to the plight of the poor and needy, the lonely and oppressed, will help us to understand, to get a feel for the things we long to change.
If we really are a people who want to bring change, we must understand what it is that we want to change, and currently I don’t. I don’t really know any illegal immigrants, any prostitutes, drug addicts or homeless people. As a team we see ourselves as different from each other, and we are, but we also have many commonalities. We must broaden our mind to see the stark differences that exist in society. I tend only to know people who are like me because it makes me feel comfortable. But cleaving to sameness just reinforces my ignorance to difference.
I want to identify with people who are different, particularly with those who suffer injustice. I want others to do likewise, to identify with suffering so that we know what it is we want to stand against, so that together we can bring change for them and in the process, to our selfish selves.
So in thinking about illegal immigrants, may I ask how many illegal immigrants you know? How many personal stories of theirs you have stopped to consider.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s worth asking them. Worth feeling something of their condition.
Or in the words of Atticus Finch, who inspired me during the drudgery of G.C.S.E. English Literature readings,
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
And yes, it will undoubtedly feel uncomfortable, particularly if you have to actually climb inside someone else’s skin, (sounds a bit gross) but this METAPHOR serves to highlight that we have to be willing to step out of what is familiar to us.
If you really want to bring about change, I have learnt that you have to be willing to change yourself, to open your mind to difference, diversity and the unfamiliar. I urge you to join me on this journey of discovering and experiencing real difference, the kind we’ve never wanted to see or be exposed to.
