The Unexpected Gifts of 2020
In 2020, we saw all kinds of things we’d rather forget. We endured a global pandemic with nearly 2 million dead, and even more struggling with ongoing effects to their long term health. We endured racial reckoning with the continued disenfranchisement (attempted and successful) of Black and other voters of color, a pandemic exacerbated housing crisis on communities of color, disproportionate negative health outcomes on people of color, the continued rise of white supremacy with the tacit support of the President and many members of congress, the deaths of innocent Black lives at hands of law enforcement, and increased pain and suffering in Black communities as “I can’t breathe” once again emerged as their rally cry. We witnessed the immigration detention and coerced sterilization of women in ICE custody, and the inability of the government to reunite at least 628 immigration detained children who were separated from their parents. And on December 37, 2020 (i.e. January 6, 2021) we experienced the seizure of the U.S. Capitol Building as part of an ongoing white supremacist coup AND nearly 4,000 more Americans dead from COVID (3,964). We endured all of this while simultaneously witnessing the targeted elimination of racial sensitivity training by the federal government.
Wanting to forget these horrific realities is a reasonable response. However, there are contributions from the racial realities of 2020 (and 2021) from which we have truly benefited; ones which we would be remiss to ignore.
The first is the ability to see what was once hidden. For many, 2020 has illuminated our culturally constructed reality in which white supremacy and racism are only peripheral. This is reflected in all the comments we have heard, especially this last week. “This isn’t our country.” “This isn’t the America I know.” “What has happened to us?” These comments are all reflections of a constructed reality, in which racism and white supremacy are but small obstacles on the path to the “American Dream.” In 2015, many people began to recognize the presence of this construct through the “make America great again” slogan, They asked, “Great again for whom?”
However, in 2020 the curtain was pulled back. The smoke was blown away, the mirrors were shattered, and what remained were the raw, hideous, and terrifying structures that support racism and white supremacy in our country. And as painful as recognizing that reality might be, it is also a gift (in the form of a lesson). Bearing witness makes it hard to forget.
Millions who previously, “didn’t get it,” have now witnessed highly visible examples of white supremacy and racism in policing, healthcare, economics, education, and participatory democracy. They now see reality more clearly, which illuminates a centuries old, ongoing, inequity and abuse endured by Black and Brown people. On January 6th, 2021 (i.e. December 37, 2020) this chasm of difference was illuminated even more powerfully. The image of a law enforcement officer gently holding a woman’s hand and guiding her down the Capitol Building steps — a woman who had breached the barricades to participate in the riotous acts of a coup — will be etched into the minds of many for decades to come. When contrasted with the tear gas, batons, shouting, shoving, rubber bullets, and mass arrests that were wielded just months before against Black Lives Matter protesters, who, incidentally, were not part of a coup, the literal meaning (and reality) of white supremacy becomes clear. It is the centering of whiteness where White people are believed to be entitled to everything and anything, and thus are seen as more valuable, less dangerous, and having priority over everyone. The curtain that hid white supremacy from so many, is now ripped open.
In this new reality, the second gift of 2020 has taken shape. A new wide-spread surge in our cultural acknowledgement in the value of equity, inclusion and belonging (EIB). While neither universal nor sufficient, we have seen millions of non-Black people joining Black Lives Matter protests, media references to violent White supremacists as “domestic terrorists,” and long overdue acknowledgements of racial inequity from medical associations, law enforcement agencies, and politicians.
We have also witnessed many businesses recognize the urgent need for anti-racism, and EIB work when in the past this work was repeatedly shelved underneath competing priorities. Our business assists many of these organizations in the work of creating equitable environments for their employees and consumers, and our work is easier in some ways as we now spend less time persuading people that white supremacy is insidious and toxic. We can now invest time more quickly establishing a common understanding through shared vocabulary, and taking concrete steps to realize transformative change.
For this change to be realized, though, we MUST recognize the final, and most likely overlooked, gift of 2020: the dire consequences for a society that regularly practices what we refer to as basic denial of experience (BDE). Based on philosopher Talia Bettcher’s “basic denial of authenticity,” designed to describe a common kind of transphobia, basic denial of experience is when we value our own version of someone else’s experience more than theirs. It is facilitated by the fact that we have been socialized to dismiss the knowledge claims of some while over-confirming those of others. As a result, 2020 has acted as an “ah-ha” moment for millions of people.
“Ah-ha”… the Black Lives Matter movement is important.
“Ah-ha”…Black and Brown people aren’t getting adequate healthcare.
“Ah-ha”…our country really is built on white supremacy and it’s destroying our democracy.
And this recognition is important! But these “ah-ha’s” come at such a high cost. It should not have taken the execution of an unarmed Black man repeatedly shown on national television, the disturbingly disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, and a coup in our nation’s capitol for these epiphanies to occur. Had we not denied their experiences by gaslighting Black, Brown, and other minoritized people for so long (when we make people believe that their experiences aren’t happening, aren’t real, or aren’t as important as they believe), these tragedies could have been prevented.
The 2020’s are off to a truly horrid start. But if we pause, we can see they have also gifted us with the possibility for new clarity, the ability to see the construction of white supremacy, the motivation of many to disrupt that system, and hopefully, a recognition which illuminates that our culture has been engaged in a centuries long, systemic, basic denial of experience, in which we failed to learn from the experiences of Black, Indigenious and other People of Color.
Now, in order not to waste those gifts, we have choices to make. Will we continue to deconstruct the old illusions about racism and white supremacy? Will we build upon the investments in anti-racism being made in businesses, communities, and other organizations? Will those of us who have denied their experiences in the past, listen to and acknowledge the voices of marginalized people?
On a day, when our nation saw its first Black/South Asian-American/HBCU graduate/woman become vice president, our hope is that we can see the gifts of 2020 as a call to action (continued for some, new for others) to observe more, learn more, read more, listen more, expand our horizons, and fight to create both small and large inclusive changes.
