“When you have a moment, just listen to the beauty of silence. It has so much to say.”
Armin Ganguly
I found this article from the Sierra Club interesting. Some of you may have already read it or at least seen the headlines about it. The Sierra Club is apologizeing for some of the early directions the organization took and the views of some of their founders. I found it very revealing and helping me see my role of my privileged life.
2 Comments
Tom Dills
I think the attention that the issue of race is getting is a very positive step forward and I applaud every individual and organization that makes a sincere and meaningful effort to improve their own behavior. I can’t help but be concerned, however, about the idea that the past is something to be re-evaluated and sometimes condemned through the lens of today’s societal norms and attitudes. I would love to see an organization like The Sierra Club acknowledge the wrongs from their past but also attempt to put the events into the context of the times in which the things happened. I have to believe that there are ways to understand monuments to Confederate generals or explain statues of past presidents that appear to glorify their conquests without tearing them down or relegating them to a warehouse.
This country’s history is dominated by arrogant, wealthy White men who built their legacy on taking whatever they have wanted. That hasn’t changed a lot today, but it needs to. I do hope this awareness will open a meaningful dialogue of change that will have positive results in the future.
(I probably should have just remained silent, in keeping with the theme of your post! 😉 )
Monte Stevens
Wealthy men of other skin color did the same in Europe, Africa and elsewhere, way too often through violence. It runs deep and will take time to heal. I have no solutions but to live my life by learning each day what I’m like at my deepest level. Only then can there be transformation. Let’s learn from the past rather than make impossible attempts to alter it.
Remaining silent has for may years been part of the problem. We must know what we feel and think as well as understand what others with differing feelings and thinking have to say. It’s not about debate, changing the other but learning and growing.
Thanks, Tom!