By Jarret Liotta
WESTPORT — I’m a great believer in simple solutions, in part because I have a very short attention span …
But this business of race equity and Socialist CRT accusations and, in particular, the anonymous group making claims against the school board — and to the town at large — has drawn me into many personal hours of concerned deliberation.
In all honesty I’ve arrived at a somewhat contrary conclusion, but one that I think is the most broadly logical — that we as a town, as a people, have to defend someone’s right to be a racist, or a proliferator of Red Scare propaganda, or whatever else they choose to be, regardless.
Hurtful Actions Aside
This doesn’t support or condone related actions they might take in their efforts to proselytize — especially those that could potentially endanger people, physically or emotionally — but I’m acutely aware how important it is that people feel they’ve been heard and that they’re allowed the dignity of their opinion whether I have any use for it or not.
I’ve shared with you before, as an inherently lazy person I truly understand an apprehension to make large-scale changes in my way of seeing the world. In particular I understand the deep resentment that’s borne of feeling forced to do so by other people, or by our nation or culture.
F*** that! I don’t want to do it!
And the harder I’m pushed in that direction, the greater my resistance blooms.
I don’t think I’m alone in that, and especially with the tumult of modern times and dramatic changes taking place far quicker than we can process, it’s only logical that many people feel put upon to psychically have to keep up with all that’s going down.
Forged in Fear
Please understand that my conclusions come from a rather deep belief that things like racism and peripheral racism and racism by omission are all shades of a sort of sad soul sickness rooted in simple fear (and its myriad forms).
Likewise, when I see anyone getting vehemently charged up about anything — myself included — I have to recognize that a line is being crossed where it stops being about a particular issue and starts becoming about personal pathology — my fears, my wounds, my feelings of having been wronged or what-have-you — in short, my baggage.
Some of it’s very personal, but some wounds are also institutional and sting from the helpless frustrations we feel in relation to importunate control emanating from bureaucratic machines, under which we’re largely powerless and impotent.
Either way, I propose that the discontent felt on many of these issues is less about content than about process. Sometimes as a society — or as institutions or cultures — in our efforts to do what is right we forget that some new (perhaps lesser) wrongs (or hurts) are inadvertently created.
Simple Recognition Goes a Long Way
The challenge is not to weigh or compare the justice, or the hurts, but to simply understand that they may be inflamed. Again, sometimes it’s not so much the content of what we’re faced with, but how it leads us to feel, in part by how it’s presented to us and how that touches our personal identity.
He’s probably not the only one, but a rather brilliant spiritual philosopher named Emmet Fox talked about how consciousness can’t reverse itself. Once a person — or a society — is awakened to a new outlook, to a new awareness, there’s really no going back.
I take comfort in this, for despite what sometimes seems like myriad setbacks and sidetracks rooted in misunderstanding and fears of change, our society has steadily progressed forward toward enlightenment, even if some individuals resist it for whatever reason.
At the core of this gradual change has been an ever-widening awareness of — and support for — the basic human rights of all people, and that’s frickin awesome! It is happening! We’re growing in enlightenment as a species. That can’t be quelled, nor do I believe that deep down in their true soul any one of us wants it to be.
Clarity of Consciousness
Amidst this journey, however, consciousness needs to extend sideways as well as forward.
I think the more we can strive to really listen — to hear — the greater our chances as a community to enthusiastically arrive about the same page with whole-scale satisfaction and probably a more healthful foundation.
So this week, as I defend your right to be racist, to be a renegade or a journalist-hating, jackboot-wearing oppositionist, I likewise urge everyone to take a breath and strive to examine & own whatever personal pains & discomforts may be driving them — perhaps blindly, perhaps understandably — toward rabid zeal or just a little too much fury-filled passion …
Meanwhile, come take a seat at the table and civilly, openly speak from your heart …
Is There Anything The Beatles DIDN’T Teach Us?!!
At the end of the movie Yellow Submarine, there’s a great moment where John calls over to the Blue Meanies after they’ve been defeated & repelled. “Halloo there, Blue People,” he calls. “Won’t you join us? Hook up and otherwise co-mingle …”
“It’s no longer a blue world,” the Blue Leader tells his minion, Max.
“Yes, let us mix, Max,” he says. “I never admitted it before, but my cousin is the Bluebird of Happiness.”
.
Since you’re trying to expand your consciousness and willing to consider shifting the paradigm, consider the following instead of continuing to bait people by back-handedly labeling them racist (but its OK to be one):
There’s an age-old adage, “follow the money”. In this case add “power” to that sentence. This focus on division in our society is kept alive and propagated by individuals and organizations that would cease to exist if they couldn’t convince people that the path to unity is through continued emphasis on division. Think about it. Money, political power and fame are attached to every organization or individual that can convince people that the only way to treat one group of people fairly is to blame or subjugate another group for the “benefit” of all. Whatever happened to “2 wrongs don’t make a right”? The great strides made in this country towards civil rights and affording everyone the same rights was accomplished by inclusion of the majority of all groups, not at the detriment (actual or perceived) of any one group. Yes, we have a long way to go still. You can’t make meaningful change without the majority of all people supporting that change. If you back otherwise good, sympathetic people into a corner to the point they cannot actively support the cause for fear of being wronged themselves (especially when it comes to their family) then you’ve lost the best avenue forward. These folks won’t actively voice opposition but also, more importantly, won’t actively support the change. But again, division pays big and the most active proponents of division don’t want to find themselves needing a job. If there wasn’t the emphasis on division, there’d be no need for CNN versus Fox News. No one is interested in the truth, just their own agenda. I know this is counter-intuitive but try to see past the brain washing and propaganda. Moving a society forward from a civil perspective is better served by a simple strategy, drain the color from the discussion. Color has no place nor weight on what is right or wrong unless we let it take center stage. Focus on right and wrong and the principles this country was founded on and we aspire to achieve, period. If we change the vernacular we eventually change the discussion and neutralize the emotional knee-jerk reaction which clouds meaningful discord. Why should it matter whether a police shooting or store looting is further identified by the color of the individuals involved? At its core if the act is illegal it should be investigated and resolved, period, without regard to color. Add color to the mix and now the lines are drawn and reason is drowned out. Now the looting is ok because it arose out of a protest, now the shooting is automatically wrongful. This is a very slippery slope to continue on this path as evidenced by the mounting crime statistics in major cities across the country due to the handcuffing of the police. Division is not just a civic issue, it is the path to the destruction of our society and a clear and present danger to us all. Next time you’re seeing or listening to someone preaching division as a way to “make things right” ask yourself what is the actual agenda behind the rhetoric and try reframing the discussion without “color” being center stage. Follow the money and power and don’t be a pawn in someone’s personal or political agenda.
Sir, You are really off the mark here. CRT opposition is not motivated by hate but by love, my friend, for what America is all about, which is being threatened. This is why people of all backgrounds are so upset. CRT is indeed derived from Marxism and explicitly seeks to destroy the liberal world order that was specifically designed to protect minorities (remember how the pilgrims were fleeing religious persecution?). This is how the architects of CRT describe themselves:
The 2017 book, Critical Race Theory (3rd Ed.), by Professors Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic, describes the CRT movement as “a collection of activists and scholars engaged in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.… Unlike traditional civil rights discourse, which stresses incrementalism and step-by-step processes, critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law” (page 3.)
Get it? Or are you just gonna keep on ranting about how everyone who has a problem with this progressive extremism and is a horrible lost soul?
This article is such a ridiculous word salad. Why is opposing indoctrination of kids …wait for it…racist?
Are you really that afraid of telling the truth – that you have to create such an alternative reality?
“We have a thing called the Constitution that enshrines free speech.”
There, I fixed it for you.
Hey Jarret, it looks like Condi Rice also dislikes CRT. I trust you agree with this summation of her: https://thegrio.com/2021/10/22/condoleezza-rice-foot-solider-for-white-supremacy/
Certainly, you (and Darcy, Jonathan, Candi, etc) should step in and condemn Condi, right? Isn’t that your moral obligation? You guys definitely have all the answers on all racial questions, right? The former Secretary of State who attended segregated schools in Alabama- she’s obviously a crazed white nationalist- what does she know about racism? But thankfully we’ve got a super strong crew right here in little old Westport who have all the correct answers, with their “relentless” application of the “equity lens” to everything we say and do. Really, we are just so privileged to benefit from this local talent base of moral guardians who are willing to wage the good war against the benighted townsfolk of Westport, with their antiquated attachments to ideas like a color blind society or equal treatment for all. What are these racist creeps who live amongst us gonna do next? Prevent the removal of the Minuteman statue? I mean, we all know the Minutemen aided and abetted the American Revolution which was obviously just another white supremacist power grab. Jarret please galvanize the community to remove the statue. We are counting on you!
I’m sorry if my question comes off as insensitive, but what examples of racism in Westport are we talking about here? Anything recent? beyond anecdotal?
After 53 years in town, I have never seen it. Westport has always been inclusive from my experience. Was there an incident?
I find it hard to believe you have a problem with anonymous speech.
Westport, from my memory, has always been very open.
What am I missing? Who is the boogyman?
Also, what are micro-aggressions?
I remember Obama landing his helicopter on the beach to pick up the check from Harvey Weinstein, as Westporters were very generous to his campaign.
In fact, I will go as far as to say that in all my years I have never seen a racist incident go down in Westport.
When I was a little kid a song came out called “Free To Be You & Me” written and performed by Westporter Marlow Thomas. That was the philosophy I grew up with.
I believe the kids called this “getting ratio-ed”