-VIRGINIA ROSENBERG-
https://virginiarosenberg.com/blog/2016/7/10/converting-hidden-spiritual-racism-into-sacred-activism-an-open-letter-to-spiritual-white-folks
There is a lurking problem happening within ‘spiritual’ thought and dialogue.
Many people who view themselves as healers, “starseeds,” or spiritual teachers, are doing something dangerous:
spreading violence and aggression under the guise of love and light.
In the widespread conversation about race taking place right now, many feel they have good intentions. People are contributing without consciously intending malice. But racism is tricky. Racism is not a simple matter of “being racist” or “’not being racist.” It is a complex, endemic, historical issue that lives within our collective psyche. Sometimes it’s in the background of awareness. Sometimes it’s in the foreground.
But it is always there.
No one wants to own racism.
No one wants to identify with the aggressor.
And yet, abusive ideals pervade our conversations like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It seems to happen ‘accidentally.’ Unconsciously. Like a Freudian slip. Like a social cancer. It is time to address and correct these covert tendencies. If you care about healing disparity within yourself and in the world, read on.
It can be painful to own racism within ourselves. It can be challenging to our identity, our sense of inner stability, and it can break our hearts. It can bring us to our knees.
But we need to be willing to look.
Because it is more painful to continue forward in ignorance, allowing innocent people to die, or to live in constant fear for their survival. The more we try to distance or protect ourselves from the monster of racism, the deeper its hold becomes.
In times like these, our identity and our hearts need to be challenged and broken. Our foundations need to rumble and shake. For this is the path of breaking open. This is the way to true awakening. It is through direct, willing engagement that we heal into unity within ourselves and the world.
Let us look to our shadow, our greatest teacher. Let us look to what underlies the formation of this nation.
The United States of America was built upon slavery, and the structure of modern society still draws from those roots. Those roots have become parts of ourselves that subtly operate beneath the surface.
Let us move through our darkness, feel it, and learn from it in order to emerge on the other side:
Together. Whole. Intact. In solidarity. In true freedom.
For no one is free until we are all free.