I wrote recently (A unique and shining moment…) of observing something very encouraging and informative – the positive effect on persons of color of the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States. Of course it’s had a positive effect of many of the rest of us as well, and I honestly believe that this effect will grow, over time. This is a man who exemplifies what can be accomplished when one marries vision, persistence, focus, and intelligence. This is a life from which we can all learn.
But how is that? How is that the life of another person can teach US something? In psychology, there has been considerable research and writing on something called Social Learning Theory. The research has largely supported the theory, and it all reduces to this: We learn from observing the actions of other people, and this effect is increased to the degree that we can see ourselves in them.
So, when a child, adolescent, or adult sees a human being with whom they can identify do something remarkable, it becomes easy to fantasize (the beginning of belief) that they also could do something remarkable.
Put differently, when we have models of functional normalacy, it becomes significantly easier for US to become functionally normal. Life really isn’t about the remarkable. Most of us will never be “remarkable”, and we don’t really need to be. We just need to have enough, do enough, be enough. This is hard to do when the most visible people in your culture clearly are NOT like you. There are many minority groups in our country who are negatively impacted by this problem. It injures them, and to that degree injures all of us.
I’m absolutely amazed and thrilled to observe, at this very moment, CNN reporters interviewing very ordinary kids walking on the Capital Mall today, the day before the Presidential Inauguaral, kids who are simply glowing with pride. I truly believe that for many of them it has never been easier to feel good about themselves, about their possibilities, and about the world in general. This is a very very good thing.
We all need vision, in our lives, and our minds. Some of us can provide vision for others of us, by what we do, especially in the public arena. Such role models most include ALL the people who comprise our remarkable nation, and world. President-Elect Obama’s remarkable achievement has given ALL of us a great gift, and its value is only beginning to manifest.
When I was eleven years old, I can recall seeing an article in the Reader’s Digest – a lead article at that – which went to great lengths to attempt to tie Martin Luther King and his associates to the International Communist movement. This was an idea actively promoted by the long term despotic Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Herbert Hoover, as has since been well documented.
My own parents, both raised in Texas, had always taken a clear position that persons of color (not the term in common use at that time) were as good as anyone else. They certainly didn’t see themselves as part of any movement, however, and nothing was said about that absurd article in the Reader’s Digest. And I can vividly recall going to Texas as a child and seeing “Black only” water fountains out in back of the service stations. It just looked strange. Still does, in my mind’s eye – strange and frightening.
But today, and tomorrow, all of us – ALL of us – who wish to, can feel proud about how far we’ve come. And we need to remember that there are still very significant groups of people in our country who have great difficulty feeling proud about who they are. They need all the encouragement, and positive, affirmative, action, we can produce in our society. I’m thinking particularly at this moment of Native Americans and people in minority sexual/gender identities. But there are many other groups about whom we should be equally concerned. This is a social health issue, and most certainly a mental health issue.
Diversity is one fundamental aspect of humanity. People whose only distinction is that they are “different” are a fundamental asset for us all, and we need to cherish them, and help them to cherish themselves, so that they can achieve and maintain the essential pride which is the birthright of us all.
