Relax.
Every now and then I’ll catch a fragment of a conversation hanging in the air and realize they’re speaking a different language. In that moment occasionally a darkly whimsical thought creeps far in the back of my mind. “Hey, what if they’re casting a spell on me?”
It’s a silly and irrational thought that’s probably a hangover from a religious and vaguely superstitious upbringing. I generally just chuckle at myself and move on with my day. I mean imagine if I let this silly and trivial fear mobilize me? I’d be running around tossing buckets of water on Hispanic people just because I didn’t understand them asking each other how they’ve been.
It’s easy to be afraid of the unknown. If you had never seen an octopus and someone put one on a plate in front of you you’d probably cringe back in horror and refuse to eat it. In fact a lot of folks have seen plenty of them and would still slide the plate away. The unknown is scary. It feels like taking a step forward in pitch black darkness without being certain there will be ground beneath you.
But the conservative voices of this world have gotten very very efficient at mobilizing those fears. It’s how the Salem Witch Trials happened. It’s how the crusades and the inquisition and the holocaust and countless other horrifying acts of human depravity have happened. Finding an “other” and making them the scapegoat.
Notice the voting differences in cities and rural areas. The places with more Black and Gay and Muslim and Mexican and Trans individuals generally vote on the side of “these people are not to be afraid of.”
Those who have little to no interaction with those groups don’t have the perspective of knowing and communing with fellow human beings that don’t look or act like that. And that’s the fundamental lesson their children need to learn. That the unknown isn’t as terrifying when you consider that our common link is humanity. The people they see as different still have a heart pounding behind their ribcage. They have hopes and dreams and aspirations.
Don’t let the fear and insecurity persuade you to keep people from using a bathroom. Don’t let your pride and ignorance allow you to ignore the failures of our justice system to Black Americans. Don’t let your entitlement and arrogance convince you that brown people shouldn’t have opportunity. Don’t let a pack of wolves steal your food because they’ve convinced you the other deer are out to get you.
Find a hand to hold onto and step forward into the pitch black darkness and come along with the rest of us who are moving along the solid ground we can’t see.
