An Awakening
I grew up in a town on the coast of Maine. The majority of the people in my community were Quebecois, immigrants or children of immigrants from the Canadian province of Quebec. This fact made it so that our city was very white and not just because of the mounds of snow that would fall each winter. In my high school there were a handful of Asian kids and one African American kid, the other 95% of us were white as the aforementioned snow.
Living in a community as homogeneous as mine lends itself to certain attitudes. There was no overt racism, in the sense of purposeful bigotry, but there were plenty of opinions about African Americans that were based more in assumption than in reality. No matter how much one tries to be open minded in a community like that some of the attitudes are going to rub off on you.1 Since there is no reason to question these assumptions there is very little critical thought as to whether or not they are correct.
It was not until I became the father of an African American child that I even began to question the assumptions that I had grown up having. Prior to my son Jamil coming into our lives it was easy to say that Travon Martin should not have been in that housing development or Michael Brown should have obeyed the police officer. After Jamil the black boy being killed was no longer an abstraction, some guy from over there. There was flesh and blood that I loved who could be the next victim of American law enforcement’s proclivity toward shooting black males. Jamil was the catalyst for me to engage in critical reflection about my attitudes about African Americans.
Critical reflection on one’s biases, both conscious and unconscious, is never easy nor is it ever enjoyable. I felt horrible about myself for a long time for buying into stereotypes that had no basis in reality. The pervasiveness of my biases was appalling to me. At a certain point you have to stop feeling sorry for yourself and start doing something, so I dove in and questioned everything I believed about African Americans. I prayed a lot of prayers of forgiveness during that time. From time to time things still come up at which point I once again have to critically examine the thing and move to an opinion that is based in reality. I know that I am just at the beginning of this journey, there was so much hammered into me growing up where I did, it will take a while to get through it all. At least I have techniques to use now.
An interesting thing that happened as I started to question my beliefs about African Americans is that I started to be critical of other beliefs that I held. Does political party X really care for all people or only a segment. What does ‘pro-life’ even mean? Does my lifestyle lend itself toward acts of love and hospitality? It seems that the more you actively engage in critical thinking the more you naturally do it.2
Perhaps when the Apostle Paul encouraged us to “take every though captive” he was pointing us toward having a more critical mind that is actively engaging with the thoughts provided to us.
I am still one of the lazier thinkers that I know. I would rather just accept what is given than question it. My experiences have taught me that I need to critically examine my thoughts and the thoughts of others. The work continues, but it is less daunting now than it was at the beginning.
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1. Linda Elder, and Richard Paul. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. Kindle ed. (Tomales, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking), 2009. sec. “The Problem of Sociocentric Thinking”, Kindle.
2. ibid. sec. “Why Critical Thinking?”, Kindle.
About the Author
Sean Dean
An expat of the great state of Maine where the lobster is cheap and the winters are brutal I've settled in as a web developer in Tacoma, Washington. As a foster-adoptive parent of 3 beautiful boys, I have deep questions about the American church's response to the public health crisis that is our foster system.12 responses to “An Awakening”
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I think you have drawn out a key piece that isn’t emphasised in our text, but is often the catalyst to think more critically, and that is relationship. Some of the particularly controversial issues within the Christian community are exacerbated by the fact that some people debate from a strictly academic/theological/biblical interpretation and some from strictly an emotional/defensive/passionate position and either can lack the critical thinking necessary to shift us from our egocentric starting point. I think particularly as ministry oriented people, relationships are what drive us to think harder about complicated issues. What do you think our best strategy might be to shift people to critical thinking even without the benefit of relational encounters?
Jenn, I think that there needs to be something or someone within the community that points to a wider understanding of the world. I’m honestly not sure how that would work out in the real world, but that’s at least where it starts.
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Sean, thank you for being honest about the assumptions you made about African Americans. To be honest, I think every race does it. I know I had many assumptions about Asians before I went to Hong Kong. However, this idea of questioning our thinking is helpful in dispelling the myths we carry about others. I find these techniques in the book helpful, but I think, as you said its all about our relationships. Theses are the things that make a difference. You sharing your experiences go along way in changing perceptions and ideas about those Jesus calls our neighbors.
There’s a song in the musical Avenue-Q called “Everyone’s a little bit racist.” It’s kind of a crude song, but it makes the point that we’ve all chosen some other group to make fun of or just have attitudes that are wrong. It gives me some solace, not that it excuses the behavior, because it’s part of the human state to be wrong about people. We should definitely correct those things when we see them, but it’s not unique to us that we have incorrect biases. It’s amazing how relationship brings those attitudes to the forefront. It’s one of the reasons I love living in a larger city, I have relationships with so many different kinds of people that it keeps me honest about my opinions.
Powerful, personal post Sean. We/Humanity have so much farther to go in our conversations regarding race, power and privilege.
You speak of Avenue Q and the crude humor, but sometimes we need humor to be the entry point so we can actually speak to difficult issues. I think of Dave Chapelle, Wanda Sykes, Lily Tomlin, Chris Rock as comedians that have done that incredibly well. I am sure there are others. I am grateful for their “witness.”
Sean, I resonate with your statement regarding the process that ensued from opening the door to critical thinking in one area and how it led to a broad spectrum of subjects experiencing the same. That was my process several years ago that has significantly changed my views on a large number of things today. Nothing like a child to take us there! It seems their innocence takes down our defenses and helps us see things differently on their behalf.
There is something about recognizing we have been wrong about some things that quickly humbles us to consider there may be more adjustments to be made.
There was a day when I was working through this stuff and every time I came to a conclusion a thought would hit me and I’d think, “oh crap now I have to rework this other thing”. It was like dominoes. Once I got through that phase it was better. Rational thoughts shed light on irrational attitudes. If we’re honest we’ll deal with the irrational when we see it, but too often it’s easier to just ignore. I’d like to be past that reality, but I’m not. I guess knowing is half the battle, so at least I’ve got that working for me.
Sean,
I think you have poignantly phrased the essential construct for critical thinking, to love the flesh and blood of someone I formerly had preconceived uncritical notions about. Everytime that happens to me, “they” cease to be an abstract opinion or political argument and instead become a person, with a face and a name, and a painful story. While they have always been loved by God, somehow God has now shockingly got my attention and amazing evoked love for them from within me. Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your story and providing me a visual construct that I will be ruminating on for days. Your life and your words are powerful, blessings on your critical thinking pursuits. H
‘They’ is a powerful word. I’m working to remove the theys from my thoughts. Thanks for your encouragement.