In this current crisis of George Floyd’s wrongful death and the re-igniting of the Black Lives Matter movement, we’re seeing the polarity of Victim-Tyrant playing out through racism.
It isn’t a new polarity – it has been perpetuated over and over through millenia with people of different races, religions, cultures, genders, and sexual orientations. It shows up even within abusive families. It also plays out through the plight of the planet at the hands of the tyrant of the human race. Every one of us can relate, in some way, to being victimized and, if we’re honest, occasionally being tyrannical.
We are now presented with the truth that there’s no going back to “normal”. Our world can’t sustain, on any level, the continued perpetuation of Victim-Tyrant. We must find a new way that transcends this polarization.
This clear realization that black lives matter and the injustice needs to be addressed and rectified is showing us in bold relief that both ends of this polarity need to come to an end. How do we do that? We start by examining the victim and tyrant inside ourselves.
The Tyrant that says it’s my way or the highway, that I am right and they are wrong, that I must be in control and dominate, which means that others must be controlled or worse yet, destroyed. The victim, that declares that I’ve been wounded and they are bad, that I am powerless and can’t do anything about it.
Neither of these positions are helpful or heal. They either abuse power or give their power away.
We are now seeing people come together to transcend these polarities. Who are owning how they have been tyrannical and seeing how they can change. Who are stepping forward into their power without becoming a tyrant themselves.
We know we need unity, in the mundane and spiritual sense, now. But we must be careful about how that is expressed. In the past, sometimes the declaration of unity and oneness carries the subtle demand that you become more like me, that we become one by homogeneity. Especially for white people. That you need to do and be what makes me feel comfortable in order for us to feel united.
There is another way. We can unite and find our sacred Oneness while honoring our diversity and uniqueness. Together, we can all know that we come from one Divine Source (although we may not give it the same name or form). We all have that sacred energy within us. It doesn’t have to express the same or look the same to find our common ground that we share.
There are hundreds of thousands of varieties of flowers – we can each know we are all flowers of this Sacred energy, and see the exquisite diversity of the myriad shapes, colors, fragrances, and textures. In order to experience unity and spiritual Oneness, we must simultaneously embrace differences.
This isn’t an easy, “say it and it is so” transformation. We will need to change ourselves and dismantle the disempowering and hurtful victim-tyrant structures in our culture, justice system, law enforcement, and media. We’re seeing the beginnings of this now, as people are protesting and taking action to create change. There’s more to be done than I can name here or even be conscious of in this moment. It will be an ongoing process of personal and collective growth.
And so worth it.
Let’s all look at how we can transform, release, and transcend the victim-tyrant polarity in our lives and in the world, and find a new paradigm that supports, respects, and honors all beings. It’s a work in progress for me, and probably for you, too. Let’s start with knowing that Black Lives Matter and bringing to consciousness white privilege; as we learn through healing this societal issue, we’ll discover some of the keys to healing our whole planet.
Resources:
The Marriage of Spirit by Leslie Temple-Thurston and Brad Laughlin
This book explores spiritual awakening, and particularly how to transcend polarities to attain unity consciousness. You can read some sample chapters here (chapter 2 and 8 are most relevant):
https://www.corelight.org/the-marriage-of-spirit-sample-chapters/
How White Fragility Supports Racism and How Whites Can Stop It
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/health/white-fragility-robin-diangelo-wellness/index.html
16 Books on Race and White Privilege That Will Show You What’s Really Happening in America Right now
https://www.businessinsider.com/books-white-privilege-novels-racism-antiracism-black-scholars-2020-6