dancingthroughchaos

‘With great privilege comes great responsibility’ – with apologies to Spiderman 

One Friday night, many Octobers ago, I apparently arrived into the world to the warm whaler’s greeting: “Thar she blows!” My Dad’s exclamation may not have been the special, sacred moment of which most parents dream, but the largely inappropriate fact has been corroborated many times by my Mum.  Obviously,  I have no memory of the event and was definitely not consulted on how I would like to be greeted, so I suppose I can’t complain.  When you think about it, none of us had an application form on which to indicate our preferences on this topic or any other prior to our arrival: parental nationality, social demographic, marital status, economic bracket, educational record and employment, residential inclinations, number, age and temperament of siblings required, oldest/youngest/somewhere-in-between place order etc.

So, we were born into our various families, nations, cultures and skin-shades across the glorious spectrum.  Either we flourished or we didn’t; the usual mix of nature and nurture woven together over a finite period of years.  But, none of us were born into a vacuum. The history of our various countries of origin shaped the cultures into which we were born; I’m wondering for how much of this I can take personal responsibility, credit and/or blame.  The approximate probability of me being born in the UK has been calculated at 12.55%.¹ I consider myself very fortunate in so far as,  through no skill of my own, I turned up in a first world, developed country and knew a childhood well above the poverty line.  I enjoyed shelter, indoor plumbing, hot water on demand, electricity, free health care and a rounded education; I breathed clean air, ate a varied, nutrient-filled diet and lived in a democracy where free speech, reasoning, debate and creativity were all encouraged. One by-product of this is that I also inherited a rich and exciting island history filled with explorers, adventurers, inventors, scientists, Kings, Queens, writers, artists, poets, rogues, vagabonds, social reformers and philanthropists.  As a personal bonus, from my more immediate personal history, my parents are still together after 59 years; my grand-parents were a treasured and positive presence and I have them to thank in large part for the strong, cohesive relationships the rest of my extended family still enjoy, including aunts, uncles and cousins; plus, my two siblings are still my friends.  Lucky me.

But the brutal truth is that most of the world is not so ‘lucky’. I feel both sorrow and anger on behalf of those whose environment and path was not so positive.  My blessing is not an excuse for lack of care for those who feel the pinch of poverty, the stigma of old histories and the pain of the outcast. Beyond my borders are millions of individuals who are also products of their national cultures, histories, etc, and there have been times when the consequences of these crossed into my experience even though I wasn’t born yet.  How do you and I respond to that? How am I supposed to react in the present for things that happened before I was born?  Should I be apologising for the Empire chapter of our history and the colour of my skin? And if so, on what basis?

In an era of revisionist history and anachronistic interpretation of times gone by, I feel a faceless pressure that tells me I should indeed be embarrassed by our collective national past. There’s no doubt that our wider horizons and global-village-thinking have massively changed our perception of the world and it’s peoples for the better.  The colonialism of the past was clumsy, oppressive, small-minded, self-serving and self-seeking.  But, isn’t it also true that some individuals made great personal and financial sacrifices to travel huge, dangerous distances to implement ambitious and effective programmes of education, basic health, social care and infrastructure?  Certainly, some who figured in these narratives were lured by the seductive nature of potential power, the possibility of wealth spurred on by self-absorbing, pompous agendas and the chance to make a name for themselves. Wielding responsibility became, in some cases, lording over others; compassionate, benevolent governance became didactic, cruel and oppressive subjugation and superiority off one race over another. That they operated under the flag of my country is unsettling at best, but I believe that many had finer, more altruistic intentions.

There is a part of me that is tired of the implied obligation that I should continually apologise for my privileged, pasty white skin.  Particularly here in South Africa, it is emotionally exhausting to ‘own’ a history in which I took no part, had no say and have fairly rudimentary understanding.  And yet, I am convinced that my personal comfort and preferences must take a back seat to the bigger picture.  I feel a responsibility to play a part in righting old wrongs, giving voice to the voiceless and championing the downtrodden, the victims of wars and atrocities far outside my own experience or imaginings. Social justice is more than just ‘a worthy cause’; sharing the planet must surely on some level mean sharing the problems as well as the joys.  At the end of the day, we are all people who want to live, love and laugh in peace. Our skins and cultures may be startlingly different, but our bones are the same colour underneath which, I think, is a helpful perspective and perhaps the only solid uniting factor between uniquely created, diverse individuals.

While we had no application form for our arrival in to the world, we all have a choice in what and how much we contribute before our departure. For myself, I hope that date is many years hence, but I refuse to let the past entangle or distract me from the present.  I choose to believe that there is hope for all who share the planet if we can lift our heads from our own comfort zones and parochial borders, and get back to what is really important.

¹https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/29sn87/request_what_are_the_odds_of_being_born_in_a/