Dismantling Human Potential
Final Thoughts on Black History Month
When I was in eleventh grade our class was given a career placement aptitude test. Several weeks passed before my teacher reviewed the results and when she did, she told me, “Tell your mother not to spend one dime sending you to college. It would be a waste of money.” Unfortunately, my experience was not unique. Many other youngsters have been denied the opportunity to develop to their full human potential because of their teachers’ internalized perceptions of students’ inferiority.
In the vignette cited above, the teacher’s attitude displayed a deeply internalized belief in the inferiority of her students. It was intended to destroy my ambition and convince me of my innate mental deficiency. But four tours in Vietnam in the US Marine Corps convinced me otherwise. Thirty-eight years later I received my Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Virginia.
Let’s consider another example. I ask the readers to close their eyes. Imagine that they have been kidnapped from their families, chained in the depths of a ship for weeks, and finally enslaved in a foreign land for a lifetime of inhumane servitude. As the centuries pass their physical enslavement has been replaced by a system of laws that relegated this segment of the population to subordinate positions of power and influence. The historical cultural practices of that nation have also been orchestrated to destroy individual ambition and instill an innate sense of inferiority. Hard to imagine, right?
The metaphorical “Vietnam War” for this segment of our population has motivated and produced national leaders. Men, women, Democrats, and Republicans who, despite their culturally imposed limitations, have contributed positively to the growth of our nation.
There are many examples of human oppression of this kind. I recently read that there are more than thirty wars around the world resulting from the attempts of one group to oppress another. Motivated by greed, the desire for control over natural resources, political power, and religious domination, authoritarian individuals and groups defy a Divine decree of equity and justice for all.
The method of domination is simple. Through military power and control of public media, the targeted population is convinced of their innate inferiority and stripped of their ambitions. This scenario has a ubiquitous presence in today’s headline conflicts. But, as in the cases cited at the start of this essay, in time The Almighty will bring about justice.
We have in scripture a verse that says, “Seek the help of the Almighty with patient perseverance and prayer; The Almighty is with those who patiently persevere.” (Qur’an 2:153). This verse reminds us that no matter what befalls us, He is with us and will, in time bring about an equitable and just resolution when we are patient.
As the pendulum moves towards social justice, the formerly oppressed have a responsibility. They must be guided by Divine insights and never allow vindictiveness to cloud their focus. They must let Spiritual Boundaries serve as their moral compass.
