Any individual who is in a position of responsibility, (regardless of how that responsibility is come by), should not be surprised when they are held responsible. I think it is a great thing when a person of privilege, in a position of power, is reminded of their responsibility. This week, the President of the University of Missouri, was reminded of his responsibility. He is now the former President. Though I am in the same town, I am working with the same over-hyped slant of various media outlets available to the world, and some minimal local scuttlebutt; therefore I remain far removed from the realities of this happening. But I can comment on responsibility, and by doing so I actively hope to come to a more complete understanding of how and why situations such as this continue to occur.
By "situations such as this" I refer to circumstance in which a pedestal of power and prestige is occupied by a person of privilege who (for whatever reason) loses sight of his or her responsibility. From experience and observation, looking up from below, it often appears that said potentate is paying little or no attention to the plebeian masses. And this leads to my first observation: a large majority of situations such as this go unreported and/or result in no change, thus solidifying the power of privilege. And though I do applaud and wholeheartedly approve of the result in this case, the way it came about elucidates the potential for frequent injustice in more mundane, everyday circumstance. It is one of the saddest comments, specific to the situation at the University of Missouri, that an individual was in the 8th day of a hunger strike before the University responded to the pressure of a potential loss of more than one million dollars. From my limited perspective, it appears that there was no official response for the first few days of the hunger strike, but once the football team (and the almighty dollar) got involved, Mr. Wolfe began to huff and puff, the University officially took note of the proceedings, and a mere two days later we have change and the potential for some progress. If the situation was a reality upon the threat of lost revenue, the situation was a reality before the threat of lost revenue. Most of us undistinguished lumps do not have access to a million dollar threat in order to polarize attention and bring down pedestals; and so, most of us are seen, but not heard. Regardless though of how it is (thoughtfully and nonviolently) done, it is cause for some celebration to see a pedestal toppled.
Four months ago, in the post Humoring Happiness, I considered the topic of responsibility. I asked, "Is a personal responsibility a burden of obligation? Or is it an opportunity for reasoned growth?" I differentiated between "a responsibility for" which (for me) implies "ownership and control," and "a responsibility to" which suggests "the necessity of volitional action." I believe in this instance, Mr. Wolfe and University Officials mistakenly believed they were responsible for the University, but they discovered that they were unable to control that which they did not own.
In the aforementioned previous post, I ultimately determined that "I cannot be completely responsible for another individual, but I can be responsible to others through willing actions." I made a list (below) of those actions that I felt (and still feel) are most pertinent to my personal well-being, and most likely to benefit those with whom I have developed a connection with and/or an affinity toward; which, truthfully, should be all of humanity, and in the case of Mr. Wolfe, should have (first and foremost) been the entire student body.
I have a responsibility...
- to actively care for my physical health;
- to perpetuate lifelong learning;
- to contribute productively;
- to grow spiritually;
- to question everything;
- to compassionately listen for understanding;
- to be truthful;
- to maintain a sense of humor;
- to minimize harm;
- to seek personal, familial, communal, global, and universal reconciliation.
Mr. Wolfe and the University of Missouri, (in more ways than one), failed in their responsibilities to the students and to the community.
It is comforting that my written thought from four months ago is reasonably applicable to a reality; but comfort is not something one should aspire toward, as vividly illustrated by the recent reality at the University of Missouri. In his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote,
"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue... I must confess that I am not afraid of the word, tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive tension that is necessary for growth... the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation."
Creative tension is what occurred at the University of Missouri, and it is this creative tension that each one of us should aspire toward. A body at rest, (such as a person of privilege, in their comfort zone, on a pedestal of power), will remain at rest, until an outside force, (such as creative tension), acts upon it. These realizations call for an additional responsibility:
I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO BUILD CREATIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE TENSION!!
So far, I have failed in carrying out this responsibility. The remainder of this week's written thought will be a consideration of this additional responsibility.
Creative, constructive tension is composed of nonviolent direct action, mutual confrontation, negotiation, and growth.
If one faithfully observes and practices one's responsibility to question everything, creative, constructive tension will come into being and reside within the individual, thus creating a larger area of common ground and encouraging more rapid mutual understanding and beneficence; and perhaps discouraging unnecessary, destructive divisiveness.
Creative, constructive tension does not have to be, (and in many or most cases, will not be) polite.
Violence and/or threats of violence is to creative, constructive tension as stupidity and ignorance is to reasonable, respectful discourse.
Stupidity is grown-up ignorance. Ignorance is immature stupidity. Each and every one of us is naturally blessed with a plentiful, ready supply of ignorance. The challenge is to outgrow ignorance before it becomes entrenched as stupidity. Each one of us should face this challenge daily by building creative, constructive tension.
If the responsibility to question everything is an incubator for creative tension, then the responsibility to seek reconciliation is its active embodiment; active in that it requires one to continue to question all aspects of any proposed reconciliation, which in turn forces a continuing buildup of creative tension.
I feel like I am and/or could be adept at nonviolent direct action, negotiation, and growth. But (lacking a million dollars) how does one force necessary confrontation? Without mutual confrontation, creative tension is endangered. To yell loudly only seems to earn one a label as an impolite crank, but I have also had very little success as a polite subversive. Perhaps it is time to be loud and impolite.
Perhaps by focusing on creative, constructive tension, this recently-recognized, loud and impolite responsibility will aid in resolving conflict between other responsibilities.
To build creative, constructive tension feels both urgent and important. To disrupt power and privilege, and to topple pedestals feels necessary. The status quo is obsolete.
If it is necessary to force confrontation, and if my only choices to do so are:
- a million dollars; and/or
- to be loud and impolite;
I will take a day to brainstorm other possible methods for building creative, constructive tension.
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
In this past 24 hours, I believe I have been working to convince myself that what I have to say is potentially unimportant, unnecessary, irrelevant, offensive, and/or will be ignored regardless; and any or all of these possibilities will be judged as true by some, and may be judged as true by most. But what I have to say is important, necessary, and relevant (at the very least) to and for me; and if I am offensive, perhaps that will force necessary confrontation; and if I am ignored, then I will not know, or I can intensify my efforts by increasing the volume. So, I must become more vocal. I will begin by being politely loud, and as opportunity presents itself, I will be necessarily impolite.
I will start now.
