Home of Today's Common Sense

Published – Brownsville Herald 2/6/2005
Though the Herald continues to assign my agency to The New York Times News Service, I am not in their employ. I am an independant and am solely responsible for the content.

The first set of elections in Iraq are over and the commentators and experts are analyzing and commenting trying to put things in a perspective that will benefit one interest group or other but not necessarily us folks. I watched the coverage on multiple TV channels and all seemed to show real folks like us, genuinely elated at being able to participate in the direction their government was taking. I saw a patriotism that seems to be lost here in the U.S. and in particular, South Texas where a big turnout at the polls is 39% of those eligible. In Iraq folks in fear for their lives, especially women, walked miles to be frisked by authorities and wait in line hours just to vote. Veteran news men like Fox News Geraldo Rivera, hardened by seeing so much of the bottom side of life, were moved nearly to tears.
“Back Home” we watch and wait for the next shoe to drop and inevitably, when the power of the moment recedes someone will say; “what are the causes of the conflict” and try to apologize for our imagined or real misdeeds that made all this necessary. One of the best descriptions I have ever read is an article that I keep near at hand that was written by U.S. Marine Sgt. Ben Christensen, “Reports from Charlie Company” on Nov. 7, 2004. He put the circumstances in a historical, economic and personal perspective that answers most of issue posed by the letter that precipitated the article. Important to me was his denial of a personal view of a clash of cultures being his reason for service but his duty to his nation and took pains to point out his personal understanding of the historical events. It was a remarkable piece.
I would like to suggest that there is a bit more to the story and that involves an examination of prejudice and discrimination, not his but in general. Prejudice is a fact and it exists in everyone and for good reason. Humans as well as most living things originate with a threat response mechanism to protect them. In our case when a circumstance presents itself that is fearful, the response is to fight or run. Self preservation demands it.
The operative word here is fear. In history, the horrors of the “Inquisition” were the result of a fear of damage to their belief system, precipitated by new thoughts and truths emanating from an evolving experience. I wonder how different it is in the case of traditionalist religious leaders in the Middle East and those that grew up in that society that perceive a new reality and way of life that is so attractive that it diminishes the importance of the values that give meaning to their life. Certainly, there are some that see an erosion of the power they were able to exercise and fear that also.
On January 5, the Brownsville Herald published responses, from our young folks, to the question “Why do you think prejudice exists in the World? I was very impressed with the thoughtfulness and insight that went into the comments. None of the responses disputed that prejudice existed and all described the circumstances, symptoms and results.
Seventh Grader Ashley Gutierrez of Lucio Middle School focused on “Ignorance that blinds people to the beauty that everyone has”. Eighth Grader, Veronique Medrano, of First Baptist School, pointed out that “because of bad experiences with a certain person blame is placed on all people who look like or have the same racial background.” Jonathan Berg, a sixth grader at Cummings Middle School, pointed out that “prejudice comes from ignorant people who think they are better than others – Then, when they have children they teach them the same.” This is so true!
A society’s fears are handed down and become the “Flight or Fight” response of the next generation.
In my opinion, Laura Batsell, a tenth grader at First Baptist School, went past the symptoms to the cause, she identified the fear of difference; “fear causes suspicion and hate.”
Emily Kavanaugh, a senior at Hanna High school, seemed to reach the issue best of all, “prejudice exists because people are afraid of what they are not familiar with. “Ignorance is the basis … because groups of people do not understand other groups of people. Thus they become intimidated, and intimidation leads to trying to suppress other groups.”
It is interesting that the young among us instantly know what the cause of the enmity is, perhaps better than we adults, and they also very articulately focus on the daily circumstances that continue to advance it.
This tells us what caused the conflict and that because of the fear that an expansion of the “American Ideal” and “Personal Freedom”, there is a danger to the life they know and exposure to a life that they don’t understand and a loss of personal power to control that life.
On our side we are responding to the “Flight or Fight” result of actions taken as a result of that fear. The U.N. is supposed to be there to provide a forum to assuage those fears; but unfortunately fears and perceptions aggravated by individual and partisan gain, have all but made the UN ineffectual.
I don’t believe we can ascribe blame to anyone? Each side experiences very well founded fears, that life as they know it is at risk. As bad as it seems it is a natural response and neither side can flee!
The only suggestion that comes to mind is that the strongest individuals representing each of the ideologies meet on the field of battle and the winner has the correct ideology. Unfortunately, that is what is happening, though it would certainly be better if we could have a two person, David and Goliath battle rather than the one we have.
This may well be evolution happening!