#93: Wake a Sleeping Baby (PART 2)

【Success-By-Chance is Weak】
“Talking about a very large problem such as Discrimination with our youngsters--it’s like teaching our pure children about the human ugliness; like teaching to discriminate.”
 
To be sure, this argument is thoroughly questionable. For one, it can only stand on the premise that “No one will discriminate against anyone, if no one knows anything about discrimination.”
 
Of course, there are instances where no one knew anything, and no one discriminated against anyone. Certainly, this can happen by chance.
 
But make no mistake, this indeed is a chance event.
 
One may ask, “What’s wrong with chance events, let alone a Success-by-chance?” After all, even Shakespeare said, All’s well that ends well.
 
What’s wrong is that a Success-by-chance happens, well, by chance. It means that we don’t know WHY we were successful; we don’t know WHAT made the difference between success and failure.
 
For these reasons, a Success-by-chance is weak. It’s weak because we just don’t know if we can attain the good result again when similar situations arise. It’s weak to simply let luck decide success or failure.
 
And when we contemplate a very large problem in our world such as Discrimination--and especially when we extend our deepest compassion to the heartbroken victims of discrimination--we can’t simply leave it to luck this towering task of eliminating discrimination.
 
Why must we repudiate discrimination? Fundamentally at the core, it’s because discrimination hurts people through unjust exclusion/rejection based on an inborn trait. 
 
Not only an illness and a disability, but also race, ethnicity, origin, family, gender, and sexual orientation are among the inborn traits without a choice.
 
Some people are born with an illness or a disability, restraining to freely pursue their passions. Some are born an ethnic minority exposed to cruel injustices.
 
Many just happened to be born to a family mired in poverty. Many just happened to be raised under abusive parents.
 
Others just happened to find themselves all alone as orphans. And yet others are born with a gender identity different from their biological gender.
 
Based on such traits from birth, many people are misconceived as Trouble that escalates into prejudice and discrimination. No matter how desperately we attempt to rationalize by saying, “It’s inevitable at times,” that doesn’t alter the truth that such ignorance must be repudiated.
 
And it’s our responsibility--each and every one of us living here today--to eliminate discrimination.
 
From time to time, people say Don’t wake a sleeping baby and mean Better not talk about it; safe to steer clear. Almost as if to willfully ignore; simply leaving it to luck this towering task of eliminating discrimination. That, indeed, is turning away from our responsibility.
 
The premise that “No one will discriminate against anyone, if no one knows anything about discrimination” is weak. Too weak, in fact, because Not knowing brews Ignorance, which is fertile ground for discrimination.
 
Rather, we must recognize the risk in “Tragedy repeating itself when no one knows anything about discrimination,” and engage in valuable conversations with our youngsters on this sensitive but important topic of “Why discrimination is wrong.” 
 
That’s the responsibility, for each and every one of us.

Read Next: Wake a Sleeping Baby (3)【Learning is Unnecessary Trouble?】
Read Previous: Wake a Sleeping Baby (1)【Teaching to Discriminate?】
 
Complete Series: Wake a Sleeping Baby (1)～(5)
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Read Theme: Discrimination