One of the things I appreciate about having grown up in the Washington, DC, area is that this is an international and intercultural community. Even among my classmates whose parents all grew up in and around DC (mine did not), heritage, race, class, and culture led to a dazzling array of differences in terms of the way we talk, how we celebrate special occasions, how we show respect to our elders, and the balance of personal boundaries and group commitments. When we add to that the diversity that comes from our hometown being a hub of national leadership and international partnership, we understand the beautiful complexity of the community around us. There are many ways to be a person, and many ways that people come together. 

I wish I could say that this diversity always led to deeper understanding and humility. I wish I could say that being part of a multicultural learning community was a surefire cure for bigotry. It doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes the opportunity for friendships across differences really does open doors to new worlds and new ways of thinking. Sometimes it leads to a doubling down of cultural chauvinism, a habit of selectively remembering experiences that reinforce a sense of superiority and (in the internal logic of the monoculturist) justifies discrimination. It is possible to keep an uneasy quiet in a diverse environment by enforcing a set of rules or norms that benefit the dominant group, rules that might even seem neutral or benign to those in power, but do not allow every person to be fully themselves. Diversity is not enough to ensure equity and inclusion, let alone justice. To create an environment where everyone can thrive, including those who have been marginalized, requires intention and commitment, and a willingness to unravel the systems that stand in the way of human dignity. It does not happen by accident. 

We live in an interdependent universe. For those of us coming from individualistic cultures, we might view interdependence as connections between isolated points, each one still separate on its own even with thin lines of relationship emanating outwards. I suspect our interdependence is even more complex than we can comprehend. There are communities within communities, there are reverberations from the past and the future, there are ways in which we define the “self” that don’t necessarily translate across cultures or languages. The concept of the ethical manifold reminds us of our interrelatedness, but I wonder if we need to do more about remembering that we are interrelated as overlapping families, extended families, neighborhoods, and cultural communities; there are levels in between the individual and the universal. 

In terms of human relationships, that means we must account for differences of power as we are figuring out how to be together. We must take extra care to listen for the values and the voices of those who have been marginalized as we come up with practices and norms for solving problems together. We must be willing to keep learning throughout our lives, because we as individuals and we as communities are constantly making new discoveries about how to be inclusive, welcoming, justice-oriented, and compassionate. 

The Ethical Culture movement has been consistent in its aspiration to create a world in which every person can realize their full potential, a world in which eliciting the best in the people and communities we encounter also leads us to be our best selves. One of the things that changes over the generations is what it means to be “best.” Ideas about how to be in a healthy relationship change, even in the course of a decade. The wisdom of the past helps to inform our understanding of what it means to do and be our best in the present, but we cannot let the past overrule our developing sense of what it means to live into right relationship in this multicultural, interdependent world of the present and future. 

In February, we ask what it would mean to be a people of Beloved Community. What would it mean to create a space where each and all can know that they are precious and worthy? What would it mean to continuously revise our ways of doing things and our ways of relating to one another so that we and our shared values can thrive in the world? We cannot get there by resurrecting old classes, old texts, and old rules that fail to respond to our unfolding understanding of our interdependent world. The way is not easy, but it is rewarding, and it is the way that our values call us toward. Let’s continue on this adventure together.

 
Take Care,

Lyn

P.S. Please see the announcement in News & Notes about the New Day Rising Conference on February 27, in which we’ll join our UU cousins to talk about how congregations are implementing Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, and Multiculturalism (ARAOMC) with programs and policies. https://www.uua.org/leadership/events/new-day-rising-2021