"Give Peas a Chance"

Recently a group of moderate and liberals that I belong to, were discussing the Joe Wilson affair and we found ourselves invaded by right wingers seeking, probably, to get us to cancel the group. The discussions became very heated and then I started to have second thoughts. Below was my final entry to the group and it probably made some of my fellow moderates and liberals a little upset as they are "Yankees" but at least we can work that out. As far as the right wingers go, forget it, they live on emotion, instinct and chaos. There is no reasoning with them. The intellectual portion of their minds is dormant.

Given the complexity of the human spirit and also the human intellect one should try to understand why people do things rather than always attacking them for it. I view the human spirit and intellect as separate entities that are often at odds with each other, yet at other times merge beautifully and create some of the most wonderful and historic human accomplishments in art, music, literature and in human fellowship and unified effort. The human spirit is a complex mix of emotions and instinctive behaviors while the intellect is computer like in its logical functions in the mind.

People in the South although viewed otherwise by their Northern counterparts have a resolving conflict going on. It is most often not something which manifests itself in action but continues quietly in their minds as their intellect struggles with old ideas and opinions regarding race. Believe me, 95% of Southerners have an intellect which is convinced and ready to admit that the actions of whites both in aggression against and in their inherent prescribed lifestyles did discriminate and did do an injustice to the blacks living beside them in their towns and cities. It is however, sometimes, the human spirit which causes people to inadvertently fall victim to instinctive reactions based on early childhood training and interaction with others of the same race during their development into adults. Instinct can save a life and create heroes but it can also remind us of our dark sides when ingrained ideas, taught in error, cannot be suppressed by the intellect and are instinctively brought to the forefront to unadvisedly defend and protect those who we identify with most and are more alike with, both physically and culturally.
That same human spirit can emotionally cling to a flag, not because ones intellect does not tell them that what happened before and after the Civil War was wrong as to slavery, the treatment of slaves and free black people. However their human mind is not ruled by one entity or the other but both by its spirit and its intellect. This is an evolving society in the South. Peoples minds are struggling, relearning and to so viciously attack Southerners as they struggle through this evolution of intellect and spirit is wrong. They are trying and with most, they are very serious about it and take great pride in their progress. They resent bitterly, "Yankee" criticism and see it as nothing more than a kick in the teeth and some even stop trying. Criticism is nice but when a man is struggling up a hill, encouragement is better.

I found the best communication between a black worker and a white worker who are at odds and then accused each other of racism is to open communication between each and let them learn from each others feelings so that they can recognize a commonality of spirit thereby allowing their intellects to return to reason and calm. In the latter days of my management career, I enjoyed resolving conflicts like this. To allow the conflict to continue was never a solution and usually only resulted in a much more unsatisfactory conclusion.

And that is why I would urge all to let the Joe Wilson matter go. I think that most of us know intellectually that this is over and done with, but our human spirit conflicted with emotion and instinct urges us to continue to fight and attack each other. There are other issues that so much more need our human minds, both spirits and intellect, with all the emotion and reason we can aggressively bring to bear.