.....two sets of rules

Yogis,
Sitting at the edge of the river I watch the water's graceful flow downstream as it carries an occasional leaf or stick, gently winding its way between the islands. The suns reflection twinkling as skinny legged bugs scoot silently along the surface. Peaceful.

Then I stand and look down. Beneath this calm there lies another current. More powerful and unforgiving. This level has a different set of rules than the one above and is the reason for the multiple rescues each year of unsuspecting fisherman who wade into its grip.

Two currents with different rules.

I…..and when I say I, I refer to my soul…..came into this world in a white body. I can take absolutely no credit for the physical shell that is acting as my vehicle on this particular journey through life. Other souls are born into a black body. These two souls are not separate. Two sparks of the same universal energy. Two drops of water from the same life-giving river. Yet these two bodies they inhabit are provided different rules.

My rules are what we all like to call the ‘American dream’. That if I study in school, stay out of trouble and work hard, I can have whatever it is I set my sights on. I get to swim on the surface. Yes, of course it takes effort and work as I must use a proper stroke technique and kick, but if I do it, I am rewarded. My efforts equal my potential. My rules are clear cut.

Now for the soul in the black body, the water gets a little murkier. Their current is choppier and unpredictable. Everyone insists the ‘American dream’ is there for them too, but they quickly learn they must follow a different set of rules. Don’t offend, don’t stand out, be polite, don’t resist………Don’t be your truest you when out in the waters…..as those on the surface might not like it. Be more like them and they may let you swim up top.

As a young girl, realizing that these two sets of rules existed, I often wondered how anyone could think that because they had been placed in a white body life should be different for them than others. That the privileges of being able to lie back on a raft and ride the current was somehow earned simply by birth seemed ludicrous. Yet here I float.

In my rules I have never been pulled over by the police and handcuffed because ‘I fit the description of..’ I can shop in a store without being followed and I never had to sit my boys down at a young age for ‘the talk’ which wipes away their innocence to protect their lives. No, my rules give me freedom and ease. Privilege. But why? And what can I do to help erase that second rule book?

The first step is I must swim down and feel what it is like in the turbulence. Watch my own reactions, beliefs and prejudices and question them. Notice when I assign different rules or assumptions to others, call myself out on it, and grab the eraser. This must begin within.

Second, I must be brave enough to call it out when I see it in others. Whether it is actions, words, jokes, or overt cruelty. Silence only strengthens the rules since we wrote them in the first place. The privilege I swim in creates responsibility.

And in the meantime, as I swim along the surface, I am going to look for ways to reach down and pull others up because I know this river is indeed wide enough for all of us.

The spark in me sees the spark in you,
SARAH