My name is Ellie Falahee and I am one of the 2020 Women and Gender Summer Fellows. When signing up for this date as my first summer reflection, I expected to write some fluffy summary of how spring term was finally over and I learned so much throughout the past few weeks. Instead, as I sit down to write this, I am struck by how little I really have learned – or, rather, how much farther I still have to go. Spring term is over (thank goodness!) but my learning the past few weeks has really just begun. The following post is less of a reflection of what I have learned so far, and more a summary of where I hope to go from here.
The world is on fire. Both metaphorically and quite literally in some places, flames are consuming our country. The reality we live in now seems so distant from our reality pre – pandemic, and every day I feel a longing for peace creep up in my heart, eager for the smoke to clear and the world to feel “normal” again.
But that’s the thing about fire – the “normal” never endures. Fire melts us and molds us, reconfiguring everything it touches and ensuring that nothing it encounters can ever remain the same. So why do I bring this up? Like I said at the beginning, our world is on fire and I am hungry for peace. But real peace is much more than a mere “break” in conflict; it doesn’t mean returning unscathed to the pre-pandemic reality and forgetting altogether the suffering, oppression, and blatant evil that has been brought to the attention of the public over the course of the past few weeks. True peace requires that we look injustice dead in the eye and swear to not look away until each person is free.
One definition of peace which I love comes from the 11thcentury Old-French word “pais” meaning “reconciliation.”Whether this reconciliation comes in the form of reconciliation within ourselves, as individuals, or within society as a whole, it is evident that true peace is the fruit of a fight; it comes about on account of a wrong being reconciled. Within ourselves this could look like reconciliation between racist prejudices (both that which is unconsciously learned or intentionally adopted) and our duty as humans to love every person, without exception. Similarly, this reconciliation could more resemble that on a larger societal scale, dismantling the systems of oppression which perpetuate disparity, giving rise to injustice. No matter how it is framed, it is evident that peace requires reconciliation, and that reconciliation requires work.
A dangerous response I have seen in response to the events of the past few months is a call for passive peace, using silence as the antidote to a justified uproar, arguing that the quelling of conflict is the only solution, and ignoring any real reconciliation entirely. This proposed solution is bereft of work, instead believing that a return to normalcy should consist of the ignorant belief that the past must dictate the future; that traditions and teachings can neither evolve nor stand corrected. This is dangerous. This is wrong. To ignore the voices of the oppressed and lean instead into the opinion of the privileged is to create a society more devoted to the comfort of some, rather than the justice of all. As a white person, I cannot (nor do I desire) to center my voice in this fight. Rather, I implore my white friends and family to not confuse calmness with peace; to stop fighting for a return to normal, and instead focus on a path forward towards justice. This requires us to seek out other voices, to accept that we might be wrong, and to realize that unless we intentionally put in the work to re-educate ourselves, we exacerbate the problem. Peace is not a “nice idea” made up of happy thoughts and good feelings, it is an action and a choice, requiring change to take priority over comfort, and the voices of the oppressed to ring louder than the feelings of the oppressors.
Our world is on fire, but perhaps that’s not such a bad thing. Perhaps by stepping into the flame, we can better pursue and provoke peace in our world – a peace that is not a utopian dream, but rather an actionable, ever-evolving commitment we must make to each other to fight for the dignity and justice of all people.