It Depends on Who You Ask!

Ahhh. Remembering the good ole days of southern hospitality and gentility on sprawling plantations. Or was this actually a time of unimaginable hardship? It all depends on who you ask!

Picture two people – Person A & Person B – who go to the very same concert. Person A arrives a little early, is seated near the front, and actually makes eye contact with the performer. Person B arrives a little early but is not allowed in immediately because of an irregularity in their ticket. As the concert was beginning, Person B was seated near the back in a broken seat. The sound system kept breaking up, so Person B struggled to hear – and see – the performance.

So who writes the history of that evening?

“History is written by the victors.” – Winston Churchill

Welcome to Black History Month.

So much of what we have come to know as our history has been told by Person A. Their experience has been told in our history books, our movies, our government, our children’s books. Heroes reflect Person A’s POV.

Time for us all to adjust our lenses and look behind the images of pillared facades. Who do we see back there? Why aren’t their stories and images as common as those from Person A’s experience?

I feel a little queasy that we adjust that focus for a month – one month out of twelve. I feel capable of understanding the full picture every day of the year. Our kids are capable too.

But it is what we have – so let’s all get a front row seat to Person B’s story.