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The True Citizen, Wednesday, March 16, 2022 — Page 5
Michael N. Searles
BE NOT AFRAID
Ronda Rich
TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE SAME BOOK
The Bible’s admonition to be
not afraid is more relevant than
ever. Fear is a powerful emo
tion that can shape our actions
and our lives. Fear can come
in various shapes and sizes.
While personal fear occurs
when an individual believes
his or her life is in danger, there
also are cultural and social
fears. Cultural fear can pit
ethnic, national, religious or
political groups against each
other. This begins once a group
believes it is under attack by
another group.
Various studies have in
dicated that knowledge of
demographic changes alone
can alter perceptions. A study
reported in Psychological Sci
ence suggests that participants
became more conservative
when affirmative action, im
migration, defense spending
and health care reform gained
prominence. The threat of
demographic change and the
loss of status can provoke a
need to protect social identity.
In various experiments, white
Americans of all political
backgrounds, when confronted
with the loss of status, became
more conservative.
The people who stormed
the U.S. Capital were not poor
unemployed blue-collar work
ers from red-states; many were
middle-class professionals
motivated by the “great re
placement” conspiracy theory.
Every day we see multi-racial
images on television commer
cials, in magazines, and social
media. These images give the
impression that America has
changed and race no longer
matters. According to a study
conducted by Reuters/Upso
and University of Virginia,
the idea of racial harmony
has not been attained. While
most white Americans do not
support far-right ideology or
white nationalism, opposition
to interracial marriage and
the importance of protecting
“White European heritage”
resonates with a significant
minority.
Old ideas die hard, and
old ideologies die even hard
er. The belief that America
achieved its greatness because
of the efforts of white men is
deeply rooted in the American
psyche. For some who read
the book or watched the movie
Hidden Figures, the idea that
physicist and mathematician
Katherine Coleman Goble
Johnson, a black woman, was
smarter than white male physi
cists and mathematicians was
inconceivable. The story of
Katherine Johnson did not
get wide spread notice until
the film was released. While
portions of the movie were
fictionalized, it was rated 74%
accurate by Information is
Beautiful a visual data blog.
Reader’s Digest published
in 2021, an article entitled,
“35 Black Americans you
didn’t learn about in History
Class.” There are reasons when
people other than white invent,
produce or develop items with
wide spread benefit, they re
ceive little attention. Every
accomplishment of People of
Color reduces the idea that
all good and lasting things
come from those with lesser
degrees of pigment in their
skin. While the 1619 Project
by Nikole Hannah-Jones won
her the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for
Commentary, it generated a
firestorm of criticism. Some of
the criticism came from noted
and well-respected historians
James M. McPherson, Victoria
E. Bynum and James Oakes.
The criticisms that challenge
various assumptions and posi
tions deserve examination and
reflection. However, much of
the popular criticism of the
1619 Project was its refram
ing of American history from
triumphantly courageous, fear
less, and brilliant European
men and placing
the consequences
of slavery and the SEARLES,
contributions of 8
It was many years ago that
I stopped by the post office to
gather mail. Among the bills
was a small ivory envelope.
My name, though misspelled,
was presented in printed hand.
The postmark was from a mid-
western state.
Back in the car, I opened it
to find that it was from a ninth
grade female student. She
explained that her class had
read my book, What Southern
Women Know (That Every
Woman Should). I thought it
to be a strange class choice but
considered that the students
were choosing from current
bestsellers.
As I noted in the book,
Southern women have always
been feminine feminists. We
are hard - sometimes very
unglamorous - workers. When
needed, we work the hay fields,
scrub the basement on our
knees, Clorox a winter’s worth
of dirt from the porches and cut
down then drag away limbs
from spring pruning.
But we like the other side:
dress up for church, lunch, a
visit to neighbors. In the book,
published 21 years ago -I still
stand behind this— I wrote that
the way you present yourself
for a job or to meet new people,
personally and professionally,
sets their first impression. A
person well dressed and orga
nized is surely pulled together
professionally and will always
have a system of arranging
files. Or dishes. Or horse sup
plies in the bam.
More importantly, it demon
strates respect.
Too, I stated that color - not
always black - gives you ad
ditional points in those first
impressions. Sometimes I hear
an employer or a colleague say
about someone, “I remember
what she was wearing when
she came in to meet us. It was
a bright red dress with large
brass buttons. Very elegant but
serious minded.”
One person even said, “We
sat down at the conference
table, and later it became a
conversation between us, that
we kept feeling drawn to that
strong color. The competition
was intense for the job but her
bold choice stood out in our
minds.”
That note from the young
Midwestern girl, though, was
having none of it. She was
enraged. In clear terms, she
told me that she wore jeans
and sweat shirts every day,
had honor grades and, once
she graduated, she planned to
work for a company that would
allow her to dress the same.
“I am not defined by what
I wear but my ability.” Tme,
I would quickly agree. But I
would also argue that a per
son’s definition is enhanced
and made bolder by thought
ful wardrobe choices. In these
days when a record number of
students are trying to elbow
into a company, a nice dress or
suit can emphasize one from a
crowd of thousands.
The young woman’s words
became harsher as she wrote.
My feelings were crushed by
the meanness but then I begin
to wonder if the teacher had
approved the note. Surely not.
The purity of the note’s mean
ing was fine. The ugliness
wasn’t.
My heart was sad the rest of
the day then, as I was having
coffee the next morning, there
came a time - 8:46 a.m. - when
those words disappeared into a
sea of forgetfulness, not to be
remembered again for a long
time. A commercial plane, then
another, hit the World Trade
Center in New York and the
young woman’s note mattered
no more.
A few weeks be
fore I received that SEE
note, a rural Tennes- RICH,
see high school girl 8
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