In the Name of Self-preservation

There has to be a balance between self-preservation and being my brother’s keeper.  Friday at 11:30am I joined some campus members in a gathering around the campus flagpole at the invitation of Campus Ministries to support our Muslim campus members in the face of yet another tragic massacre of innocent lives at two mosques in Christchurch New Zealand.  Forty-nine souls were lost.  We were gathered in community to say that we are our brother’s keeper in the face of hatred that characterizes itself as self-preservation.  In the gunman’s distorted thinking, white people were targeted for genocide and he was fighting back.  Am I too distraught to believe that mankind can truly act as though all lives matter as much as our own?

How is it that some white heterosexual males are seeing themselves as in peril?  How after all these years of discrimination and oppression against women and people of color, do they now see themselves as justified in murdering innocent people as a means of “not being replaced”?  They are cowards. They fear having to compete with others for the first time in a very long time.  They question their true place in the world and find that they are not smarter, wiser, or more deserving of wealth and influence than others.  They just had bigger guns and were more willing to use them to slaughterl the Native Americans, enslave blacks and oppress women and other minorities.  Their tactic was brutality back them. Some are resorting back to their weapons while others have resorted to cheating. 

I was dismayed but not surprised earlier in the week to learn that some 800 or so wealthy and famous parents were scheming to get their children into prestigious universities at the expense of hardworking, unconnected, but more deserving students.  This was all about preserving the status of the next generation.  It wasn’t enough that their children had every educational advantage growing up.  And perhaps the side door to the most prestigious universities that was always open to the children of the rich and famous willing to make a huge donation was closing a bit amid equally and sometime more talented students from diverse backgrounds.  I read a book several years ago titled, “The Price of Admission” that details the alternative methods into the most prestigious institutions.  While society laments Affirmative Action that seeks to remedy the past in present discrimination of black and brown students as being somehow lacking in fairness to whites and now Asians (current law suit), this other game was going on for years.  It was a form of Affirmative Action for the privileged where a student gets extra points because of a parent’s alumni status.  But as diversity became an educational value along side of educational justice for students from disadvantaged backgrounds grew, fewer slots were reserved for the children of the wealthiest donors and legacies who were typically white.  So, we accidently learned about the cheating schemes of the last ten years. 

This is why I’m angry.  I know that self-preservation is a human trait.  But so is altruism.  So is caring about others.  So is a sense of fairness and fair play.  How do we get to the balance?  I feel like the scales have tipped toward white self-preservation and that Trump’s comment last week about having strong people on his side was a threat to those of us who demand access and opportunities for everyone.  If white people can’t convince themselves, their family members, and their friends that other men and women are human and capable and also worthy of opportunities, no matter their skin color, religion, or sexual orientation, then I think that there will be more flagpole vigils in my future.