ubuntu
Ubuntu, an ancient Bantu word, describes a system of values and beliefs that inform the lifestyles of the people of Africa. It translates, variously, I am because we are or I am because you are or humanity towards others. It reminds us that each human being is only one part of a much bigger, interconnected world.
humanity towards others
This is the text (no words are spoken) in one of the current television “Blue Square” commercials being aired by #StandUpToJewishHate:
Israel is 5690 miles away from the US.
11 hours by plane.
Hate travels faster.
In a comment. In a post. In a second.
Jewish hate is up 388% in the US.
Black hate, Muslim hate, and Asian hate are up too.
When one hate rises, they all do.
When one hate rises, they all do.
Shamefully, Ontarians don’t have to look beyond our own province to find hatred brewing, spreading and swirling through our communities. In the past three weeks, Ontario cities big and small have all seen pro and anti Israeli and pro and anti Palestinian protests that have been angry and violent enough that arrests had to be made. Social media is a cesspool of hatred directed towards virtually all peoples of the Middle East, most comments posted anonymously by cowards. Jewish hate is rampant on Canadian university campuses. Islamophobia is almost as high as it was immediately post-911. Hate fuels hate. When one hate rises, they all do, and appallingly, a new generation of Canadian children are indoctrinated with their parents’ prejudices: The cycle continues, unbroken.
The “Blue Square” commercials encourage solidarity and support for the Jewish community. The Jews are on the receiving end of 55% of all religious hate crimes. I’ve read many times that antisemitism is the litmus test, the canary in a coal mine, analysts use to gauge rising hate everywhere and amongst all groups. A current sampling:
Non-black people angry when Black people demonstrate against racism; and
Non-Indiginous or First Nations’ people angry because of Truth and Reconciliation and the reparation payments committed to their children; and
Non-Asian people angry because they blame the pandemic on anyone who looks Asian; and
Non-Muslims angry because they blame all terrorism on Muslims with the trite, tired and abhorrently false adage “Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslim”; and
Straight people angry because they despise any visibility of the LGBTQ+ community; and
On and on it goes. When one hate rises, they all do.
Now more than ever, living ubuntu challenges us to search for our similitudes, to find and preserve humanity - that common thread that is woven into the fabric of each of our lives, connecting us. It is that affinity that will guide us through the darkness of the hatred that is swirling all around. It is time for each of us to model the grace inherent in ubuntu. The virtue of, when given a choice, acting or speaking with kindness, courtesy, consideration, fairness, understanding, decency and mercy.
“The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”*
The phrase that always resonates most strongly with me is, It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. Both lives enriched. I want to be someone who who models the grace, mercy and understanding inherent in ubuntu. Understanding means listening, learning, allowing The Other to be fully known and confirming that they are respected and valued. It must be an understanding that eclipses and is oblivious to race, language, economics, religion and culture. But…
By listening, I’m referring to hearing honest expressions of fears and hopes and dreams, not to anything that has even a whiff of hate speech to it. Such language is hurtful and damaging. We must be rigidly intolerant of any language that seeks to insult, incite, frighten, or threaten — even passively aggressive in the form of best intentions.
The more I listen to Ontarians from the Middle East who, with unflinching and unvarnished honesty, speak passionately and desperately about a life that was hard, frightening and astringent - but loved and treasured all the same - I’m struck by their enduring grace and fearless hearts. It’s a much nobler grace than my own, steeped as it is in fidelity, humanity and a constant, heartfelt wish for peace and harmony in their homeland and beyond.
As my knowledge and understanding of their history, culture, religion, experiences, expectations and hopes increases, so too does my sense of kinship with them. Each of us with our own flaws, but also with our own strengths and virtues. Ubuntu! As we recognise that kinship, that common thread woven into all our lives, slowly but surely, we’ll redefine and reshape acceptance and inclusion until, with perseverance, it comes naturally.
With hope in my heart, ’til next time, y’all…
*William Shakespeare, Act IV Scene I, The Merchant of Venice, lines so famously delivered by Portia.