Colorless People: “Know Better, Do Better”
Author’s Memo
This piece speaks clearly of the issue of our times and the ability of those uninvolved to grow a hard shell inside themselves . Often and without self awareness the shell shatters as the reality realm hits hard. It’s a “walk in my shoes” experience, that once walked, transforms for life.
White people have a free pass in America as well as in a large portion of the rest of the world. The Nordics, the Baltics the Anglo Saxon Europeans, etc. The rest of the world does not.
Can a colorless person have any sense of what it feels like to be prejudged against, before “the you – inside yourself” opens your eyes in the morning? It is a layer or cloud that every person of color carries their entire lifetime.
Colorless people carry the superiority card from the day they are born. They have to do something (good or bad) to be judged. They are superior because their accountability standard is far less punitive or much more compassionate than it is for people of color.
‘Can a colorless person have any sense of what it feels like to be prejudged against, before “the you – inside yourself” opens your eyes in the morning?
Should the colorless person choose good, they are encouraged, supported, and given all the tools for success.Yet The person of color, with the same intent or choice goes unrecognized, is overlooked, discouraged and never steps onto an even playing field. They are invalidated and are marked as lesser or inferior.
‘They are superior because their accountability standard is far less punitive or much more compassionate than it is for people of color.
Once we wake up to this or “get woke” we have a responsibility to think differently, act differently and transform our inner spirit to become empathetic. Wake up and walk around carrying that black cloud for a while, feel the despair, and become an empathetic human being. As Maya Angelo reminds us, “know better, do better.” We all “know better”it’s the do better” part we can’t seem to break through. Be a human being – evening the playing field for today and for generations to come.
Credits
Featured image by Ty Feague for Unsplash
Image by Ty Feague for Unsplash
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Dr. Catherine Vandermal, PhD is a retired early childhood administrator, educator and program developer. Catherine currently resides between Louisville, KY and South Florida with her husband where she actively practices as a therapist, a parent coach and an educational consultant.
