Jews Talk Racial Justice - Ep 48: Thinking Outside of the Box, Part 2
QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW
In this week's episode, part 2 of 2, we continue our discussion about the need for outside-the-box thinking by asking what gets in the way. Our conversation leads us to the realization that the resistance to facing and confronting fear and other difficult emotions can keep us in unjust and inequitable systems.
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Access the audio version of this episode here.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
April and Tracie start off the episode reflecting on the ways in which fear is often what makes us resistant to change. Is this true for you? When are some times that fear kept you from a change, and when are times that you have worked through that fear?
Tracie uses an example of how people often place the trauma that storm survivors experience as their own fault for not leaving rather than sit with the fear of an arbitrary universe and recognizing the humanity of those impacted by systems that may have limited their decision to leave. Have you been in this situation? Either passing judgement on someone else’s choice or in the position of having your options limited? How does this conversation help you reflect on that experience differently?
Tracie uses the example of the storm to demonstrate how privilege perpetuates itself, that those on the outside of hurricane alley have a certain privilege of not having to think about it, rather than understand the humanity of those impacted by their geography. How does this example help you understand privilege better? What are some other examples of privileges you may have that you don’t often think about?
April points out that fear is just one of a number of difficult emotions that come up when change occurs and how it is our resistance to any number of them that makes us resistant to change. How do you learn how to better sit and process difficult emotions?
April reflects on how some rabbis have had to process their evolution on interfaith marriages and the difficult emotions that come up when you reflect on how you’ve grown from past mistakes. Think of the ways you’ve evolved, how does it make you feel to think about the ways you may have used to think?
April uses the example of past financial choices we have made, perhaps based on the circumstances of that time, to demonstrate that just because it happened in the past, doesn’t mean we need to do it again, and it can be as simple when navigating the examples that come up of past harms you have done through microaggressions and other ways in which oppression manifests. How does this resonate with you? How does this metaphor help you work through past examples you have in mind related to your racial justice journey?
Tracie uses the metaphor of a family’s tradition when cooking pot roast to demonstrate how we can question choices of the past without judgement to make different ones in the future. How does this relate to your racial justice journey?
April talks about her love for seeking out simple solutions to solve our problems. What areas of your life do you have solutions for that may have simpler ones than you think? Where could you go to get ideas for what those solutions could be?
INSIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
“I think fear, really, leads us human beings, at least the way I have been acculturated, to... look for a reason why the negative thing that’s happening to someone is somehow deserved, because if they deserved it, then it won’t happen to me, right? If it’s genuinely as arbitrary as it appears, then it might happen to me too. And that’s too terrifying to hold.”
“Is there a relatively simple solution or incremental shift here that may not be the full piece, but that could actually lead to enormous shifts or openings of new possibilities that make way for newer paradigms to come into being?”
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?
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