From the tearful eyes and shaking lips of the oppressor comes an unspoken plea, “can you forgive me for existing as I do?”
I’ve heard systemic injustice compared to a bloodline curse and nothing resonated more with me than that. Oppression is a curse on the individual, the family, and the larger society. It’s the scarlet letter A that an individual wears not necessarily because they committed a taboo act in this lifetime, but because they look, speak, act, and/or choose to exist a certain way.
Systematic injustice is a scourge that affects not just the individual but entire generations of people. It’s so inherent and deep rooted that it effects not just those who are marginalized and oppressed, but also those who are in seats of privilege. It’s so clever that those privileged individuals may be completely conditioned. Oblivious to what is going on beneath their rose colored glasses.
Injustice is the affliction of blind self denial. It’s erasure of the self. It’s the doubting of one’s own intuition. It’s a gaslit, group think, think tank.
In order to unearth all the self defeating sediment that we’ve – as a group – allowed to settle at the bottom of the cultural subconscious, we are required to chip away at our cultural structures.
Easy right?
To chip away at our collective culture, is to chip away at our sense of identity which feel an awful lot like taking a judgmental microscope directly to the self.
In looking outward, we inevitably end up looking within, and it’s a lot to ask anyone to be that vulnerable. Especially if you’ve spent your life projecting invulnerability.
In order to be vulnerable enough to identify faults in the collective culture, sit with uncomfortable truths, rethink social norms, and act to create a more equitable future, a solid foundation of trust is needed within a group of activists, change makers, and/or considerate human beings.
In order for there to be trust, forgiveness and healing must take place.
In order for forgiveness to even be on the table, uncomfortable truths must be acknowledged outwardly, openly, and loudly.
We can’t expect real change, real dialogue, real progress to take place if we’re all too afraid to read the writing on the wall. Forgiveness, like actual “we can have coffee but you’re not invited to my house party” forgiveness can’t take place if we’re walking on eggshells and keeping up appearances.
Recognizing that those same systems of injustice that are rooted in persecution, have systematically silenced and erased individuals who have spoken up and spoken out about the injustice that they face.
Recognizing that even if one has been brave enough to come forward, it is the reporter who has been punished, fired, excommunicated from their community while the system comes in to back up and cover up unjust behaviors. In a self perpetuating system of cover ups, persecution, and erasure with a beast that feeds itself off of the silence of the oblivious oppressor, where is the accountability to those who have been systematically oppressed?
So can you be “forgiven for existing as you do”?
Well that’s up to you.
Please don’t look around hoping to catch the eye of someone who has been marginalized and oppressed to absolve and erase an entire history of oppression. Your tears, your “sorries”, your guilt aren’t what I’m after.
Don’t ask for my forgiveness.
Only you can forgive yourself.
All I ask is that you self educate until you have some ideas for solutions that you can bring to the larger table. All I ask is that you don’t let fear, shame, or guilt stop you from seeking out the harder truths. All I ask is that you don’t give up on this quest because giving up and accepting defeat is your privilege, not mine.
Remember that, while you might benefit from injustice, it’s not about you personally.
Remember that, you are not “the system” you are a product of that system.
Remember that, you are allowed to question the system you benefit from.
Remember that, we all can’t move forward unless we are able to move forward and heal from our collective past.
Caia Rose 