Divide

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.” Audre Lorde

We went on a hike this weekend to a waterfall. Water is powerful. Water is constantly moving. Water is constantly changing. Water can be both terrifying and majestic at the same time. We need water to survive.

My community is divided in two. There has been a debate about the school mascot that has been going on for quite some time. I didn’t know much about it until after the election. Which also seemed to divide up the community.

But it’s everywhere right now. It’s all over social media. It’s all over the local news. It’s all over people’s lawns. You can’t miss it coming into town.

I don’t like to get involved in politics. I tend to keep to myself. I have my own opinions and share my opinions with those I am most comfortable with. And I definitely have opinions about what is going on in my community.

I only want what’s best for my children. I want my children to grow up in a community that is accepting, not divided. We are all different and we should accept those differences. But a mascot that depicts a group of people does not honor them. It is not showing acceptance. These mascots show stereotypical depictions of people.

If we want our children to be accepting of everyone, how does a mascot depicting stereotypes do this? How does the constant anger among people in the town show children everyone is welcome?

Everyone always says to just be kind and love everyone. But how are you loving everyone when you’re not willing to listen? How is it love when people are being excluded? How is it love when only a person who shares your exact beliefs is welcome? How are our children going to grow up to be accepting adults if they witness all of this divide and contradictions?

This divide over the mascot makes me think of the divide over critical race theory that is occurring in many schools. There is a lot I didn’t learn about in school. There is a lot I wish I had learned. The divide I’m seeing over the mascot seems to be a huge divide about change. And that seems to be the same thing that is happening over the divide with critical race theory. We have been taught one way for quite a long time. We have been taught a certain history. But not the whole history. Critical race theory is an attempt to change that. But change can be scary. When things get scary, it leads to fear. And when people are afraid, mostly from a lack of understanding, that’s when unspeakable things happen.

I want my children to understand our history. I want them to understand each side. I want them to accept the differences people have so that history doesn’t repeat itself. But that can’t happen unless change happens. Change in mindsets. Change in the way things are taught. Change in what is taught.

I have to think about what’s best for my children, especially Hayden. I am always trying to predict what problems we may have to overcome as Hayden gets older. Will Hayden be accepted as Hayden? Will one day the people Hayden grows up with be divided over accepting Hayden’s differences? Will I always have to worry about whether Hayden is safe?

Change needs to happen. Change is inevitable.We can’t move forward without some change. We can’t grow without change. Change doesn’t have to happen all at once and can be done in small steps. But without some change, acceptance can’t happen. Acceptance needs to happen. All children in my community need to be accepted for who they are. But that can’t happen without change. It can’t happen unless people start embracing each other’s differences. And I worry that this great divide will continue to happen in my community if change does not occur.

Our society cannot survive without change. Just like we can’t survive without water.

Links to mascot debates and critical race theory:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/native-americans-fight-mascots-bigger-sports/story?id=74736944 https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/indian-mascots