Wise words from the magnificent Sidney Poitier.. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/wc3F67ucTeizzkqf/?mibextid=UalRPS
But instead of paying heed to his wisdom, the American left went and made everything about race and gender, sexuality and religion. And the art, humanity, professionalism and contemporaneity of any given person now passes solely through — and is defined chiefly by — those criteria.
The filters have been narrowed down so much, the very definition of ‘existence’ in the US has suffocated
And the American right did the same, but with a twist. For them, to be American one has to first belong to a nostalgic, foundational, elegiac version of the country, the core of which is as mythological as it is dated.
In other words, the filters have been narrowed down so much, the very definition of ‘existence’ in the US has suffocated. To be something, anything, you have to stem from a very narrow set of identity-driven parameters, and that’s a terrible way to define oneself in any situation, let alone in an open and forward-thinking society.
Sure, there’s an upside to considering one’s identity in terms of one’s background or creed, one’s cultural backdrop. It’s a great thing, for example, to be black and proud of it, or proud in the constitution as it was written, or pious and observant, or driven by the need to carry forth your particular customs — but there’s a way to do all these things without letting them be the prime yardstick of your life.
Sidney Poitier summed it up beautifully in the accompanying video. (A different time and topic, but the issues are related and his message timeless.) I feel obliged to refer to him, and can only hope that his words will resonate again, sooner rather than later, once people get tired of all the extremism, polarization, and narrow-mindedness.
From your socratic Spin Doctor
PS – Critical Race Theory? How can any theory with a narrow, a priori approach to life be valid in broad terms, and function as a political creed, or form the basis of national policy? It may be compelling as a partial explanation to specific settings — because that’s the best a social sciences theory can do — but it can’t be applied to the totality of the American experience. Its operational definition is too narrow, and can define neither the minority nor the majority.
The same applies for Manifest Destiny and the American Dream; they’re tools, at best, fit to describe the experience of specific sets of people at specific places and points in time. Encapsulating the psyche of the American condition is not that easy.
The entire country, in fact, is too complex for all the above theories and ‘explanations’. None of them can even begin to sum up the American condition on their own. No theory or concept is universal enough to shed light on the entirety of America. The place is too rich and full of potential to be wasted in the name of hazy ideas, firebrand causes and mutually exclusive movements. Whatever truth each of the above holds, rooted in cultural grievance and heartfelt aspiration, it’s not enough to single-handedly explain everything. They just drag the place down, making a bad situation worse.
It’s time for a wider field, in reality and not just in name.
This means it’s time for sound leadership, which can only come through sounder theories and a more expansive way of thinking. So let the academics and thinkers, teachers and visionaries raise their game and speak wisdom again, and the rest will follow.