How to care about Injustice
In the face of injustice we are conditioned to show we care by aligning ourselves with the hero’s journey.
We’re taught to seek vengeance, control, and to help restore order, rather than to seek out the impacts of the damage, and to sit and examine the rubble.
What is left out of this societal narrative is that being the hero is one one of an endless list of options for how to respond. What our society regrets to teach us is that we are authors and there is no right way to choose how to respond.
It’s easy to say we care about injustice when we act as though we are the ones who can correct it. We can align ourselves with society’s expectations by finding the bad guy and going straight for the jugular. If we take out the bad seed and prioritize efficiency at all costs, we get to leave the situation feeling like we contributed in a significant way. We think the purpose is that we get to say we are a part of the solution, but the truth is the purpose here is we get to leave the situation scot-free and unscathed while also being the victor.
What is much more difficult is to show we care by seeking out the person hurt by injustice and to choose to sit with them in the thickness and chaos of it all. This option means progress is slow and not guaranteed. Power over our effectiveness, much less efficiency, is handed over to the person who is hurt. The truth is, even if we make an impact, there is nothing tangible or newsworthy to show for it. Your impact here lies inside a person’s private thoughts and your potential support of their effort to restore their self-worth. When we choose to act in service of someone else and the victory has nothing to do with us, its much much harder.
Injustice is all around us.
It is complex, and deeply embedded at systemic levels.
So every day we are invited to ask ourselves how will we respond? Who do we pay attention to? How do author the restoration of justice in this unjust world?
