Letter: ‘Join me in working towards a more inclusive community’

Published 10:00 am Tuesday, August 11, 2020

To the Editor:

Only 60 years ago, Ruby Bridges was escorted past an angry crowd as schools in the South began to integrate. As our country moves forward, and as individuals, communities and states do the personal and collective work to dismantle racism, I look forward to where we’ll be in another 60 years.

The upheaval we’re experiencing now is a continuation of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s not complete; there’s more work to do. Our country grew up with slavery and racism. It’s in the blood of our institutions. Even how we vote today is a result of our tainted history. During slavery, the North had more voters than the South. The South didn’t want the enslaved to vote, but wanted to count them in their population totals. The Electoral College, our process of determining presidential elections, was their solution. Racism is everywhere in subtle and not so subtle ways.

It’s uncomfortable for white people to talk about race. We rarely think of it because our skin color is not a determination of our safety. Race comes up occasionally, and it’s typically uncomfortable. It’s usually not a willing conversation. This is our white privilege, to be able to push it aside and not have the uncomfortable conversations and feel all those uncomfortable feels. When your skin is dark, there’s no avoiding it. You can’t set it aside or sweep it under the rug.

In order for our country to move forward, we all need to do some work. As with any sort of learning, it’s not going to be smooth or perfect. We’ll get it wrong, we’ll learn, we’ll fail, we’ll learn some more and we’ll keep at it because it’s necessary for the greater good of humanity.

As a country we’re being asked to confront the heartbreaking and deadly implications of racism. I hope you’ll join me in working towards a more inclusive community, country and world. We choose to exist in service to humanity, or we choose to perpetuate hate and fear. We can choose to lean into all this learning and make our country a more perfect union.

Ashley Stevick

John Day

Marketplace