Am I my
brother’s keeper? I’m not. If I don’t even have to be my brother’s keeper, why
should I have to live in a constant state of guilt for my forefathers’ sins?
Biblically, the sins of the fathers are supposed to pass down to the third and
fourth generation. Look around the world today and you’ll find that the shadow
cast by past sins or perceived sins is much, much longer than that.
In almost
every country, there are people who bear a historical grouse – about oppression,
suppression, cruelty against their forefathers. Through generations, this
ferments inside till suddenly there’s a venting and all hell breaks loose. Just
one little seemingly innocuous incident is enough to be the flashpoint for a
blaze of emotions that can very well end in carnage.
The trouble
is, there seem to be no answers in sight and maybe the time has come for both
sides to sit down and let it go. It’s hard to let go of a cross your forbears
bore which has been handed down with the unspoken urge to carry it on. It’s
hard to let go of anger that very often you were born with. It’s hard to root
out a crutch that makes you feel that all your present problems are due to
something that happened generations, maybe even centuries ago.
I read a hub
the other day and it touched me because it reflected the angst and pain of a
group pf people. We have a similar situation in our country – only it isn’t
colour but caste that is the issue. I asked myself if I really wanted to
apologize for what my ancestors did and the answer is NO. Or rather, the answer
would be No if I were expected to. I might do it if I were moved to but I know that
the compassion that maybe I should feel would vanish in a trice if I were MADE
to apologise.
Because I
wasn’t there. And the person who feels the pain passed down wasn’t there
either.
So what is
the solution? If there is a solution. Will this impasse just get worse? It will
when there are tremors in other areas. The prospect of depression, the prospect
of jobs being lost, the prospect of prices rising. In times of trouble, it
isn’t Mother Mary who comes to you but the spectres of times gone by, raising
their ugly heads. It rarely happens in times of plenty. It almost never happens
when a country is threatened from outside – an outside enemy usually makes everyone
come together. It happens, like I said, in troubled times within.
The solution
as I see it has to be at the grassroots or the community level. If one were to
look at our politicians to fulfil this role, you couldn’t be farther from a
viable solution. Politicians tend to divide and rule – that’s the way they stay
in power. The only way to get people to sit together is to educate and to
spread awareness. Here’s where local leaders will have to rise up for the
common good.
The ideal way
to get there would be a 3-point programme.
- Acknowledge
- Accept
- Address
One has to
acknowledge that there were inequalities and acts of oppression and cruelty.
One has to then see how that has affected the present. Once you accept it as
being the cause of certain effects that are detrimental to the functioning of
society and maybe even a country, it is easier to see things objectively. The
next step is how to address these ills practically, logically, rationally and
unemotionally.
When you don’t
HAVE to feel sorry, you’ll find the barriers breaking down and the possibility
of bridges being built. You’ll find the walls of political correctness
crumbling and a sense of humour coming to the fore. In the old days – well
actually not so long ago – comedy meant catharsis. We saw ourselves on stage or
onscreen and we laughed. Today, we see any kind of humour against ourselves as
personal and we’re quick to take offence. All it does is make the chasms
between groups even wider. Laughing at ourselves and at others is the only way
to bridge the gap. If only we learned to laugh at ourselves, we will stop
feeling so sat upon and spat upon.
It has to be
a concerted affair – everywhere, at all levels. The American forthcoming
elections have highlighted the latent racial tensions but it’s there alright -
the danger beneath. As it is all over the world in different forms. South
Africa, India, the UK, Sri Lanka. It’s the same story whether it’s played out
by the factions of different creeds, races, colour, caste or class. In most
cases, the flames of hatred are kept alive to keep certain people in power. We
need to get over this without any political interference. In the age of the
Internet when a whole mass of humanity has been powered with connectivity at
the click of a mouse and there’s a wave of globalisation sweeping over the
world, it’s time we shook off the politics of prejudice, the acid of
internalized hatred, the shackles of the past and the fear of the different.
It’s a long haul but we can do it if we try and who knows - Lennon’s legendary
song might well come to pass. Imagine all the people sharing all the world……..
