At some point, we have all said something like, “Oh, well she thinks she’s better than everyone else.”
It’s hard to admit that at some point, each of us has probably felt “better than” someone else. I know that when I watched the show Shameless for the first time, I was all about feeling “better than” (granted, it is a pretty low bar).
Today, is Martin Luther King Day – a day which exists because of the struggle of so many people against the belief that others were “better than.” The horrifying truth is that people believed – and some still believe – that they have some right to be “better than” based solely on the color of their skin. The words and actions of such people are reprehensible. And yet, we have a leader in our country today who incites the very rhetoric that people died to change. Also, reprehensible.
The things we tell ourselves about being better than are a fallacy – a story that is meant to assuage our guilt or even our knowledge that we could and should do better. It’s time for us to stop allowing that story to continue.
If you are white, you are not better than a person of color.
If you are rich, you are not better than someone in poverty.
If you are straight, you are not better than someone who is gay.
If you are well-educated, you are not better than someone who has no education.
If you are healthy, you are not better than someone who is dying.
Dr. King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The content of their character. I think that is something that needs to be deeply considered. How can we support anyone or anything that shows the content of someone’s character to be immoral, unethical, dishonest, sexist, racist, or homophobic?
The content of their character.
We have a leader in our country who feeds on divisiveness – who spews the kind of lies and propaganda that allowed Hitler to rise to power in Germany. We have a leader who disregards science, who creates his own version of reality, and who bullies teenagers.
Better than is a myth – like the Emperor’s New Clothes it is a lie that shows how foolish and easily manipulated human beings can be.
Truth should be able to conquer the myth of better than any day of the week. But, it takes each of us being just angry enough to actually do something – speak out, speak up, write a blog post, or write your Senator.
What are you going to do?