Whether we realize it or not, all of us know people who have been abused in the past. Sexually abused by family members. Verbally, physically, or emotionally abused. Perhaps raped. If our friend or acquaintance had never dealt with that long-ago trauma, and they confided in us, we would advise him or her to seek help. Because if they just ignore it, and try to pretend it never happened, that it wasn’t really that bad - sooner or later it’s going to make them sick. Sooner or later it’s going to make them dysfunctional. And the longer it goes on the more dysfunctional they’re going to become.
America’s long ago trauma is racism. Racism became part of America before America was even Amereica. Before pre – Americans were even thinking about forming a country. Back when some people believed that it was ordained by God that some humans had the right to own other humans… back when some humans believed that one race is superior to another. America has never really dealt with that long-ago trauma and it’s evolved. It’s metastasized. It’s made America sick and almost dysfunctional.
Occasionally I’m going to use this space to introduce you to other writers. Writers who are trying to cure our sickness. Today is one of those occasions and I’d like to introduce guest writers, Thyatira Thompson and Gretchen Reist.
Thyatira, a former history teacher and current history buff, is a Civil Conversations Project board member who lives with his wife and new-born son on remote Vendovi Island in the San Juan Island chain off the coast of Washington where he and his wife caretake the island for the San Juan Preservation Trust. Thyatira writes about the importance and the challenges of teaching history… a topic more important today than ever. https://www.thecivilconversationsproject.org/writing/teaching-history
Gretchen Reist, like Thyatira, is a friend. She is also a talented podcaster, writer, and – for lack of a better title – content producer for the Grand Junction Colorado Daily Sentinel. Recently she wrote about her experiences and what she learned about race and her own unsuspected biases while dating a Black many years ago. One of the more honest and insightful perspectives on race that I’ve ever read by a white person. https://www.gjsentinel.com/newsletter_signup/ And just for good measure, Gretchen even managed to made it fun to read.
And full disclosure: Back in 2020, Gretchen did a podcast interview of me and The Civil Conversations project. Part 1
And part 2
Thanks for reading and thanks for being a part of The Civil Conversations community.