Q: I believe strongly in social justice and know there are other violent forces in the mix at our protests but don’t see how protests alone will change society. What is your take on our social unrest and what likely outcomes do you see in the social justice protests in and outside of business?
A: In any important social evolution there’s a polarization of opinions and then an integration of these opposites into a more mature society. We are in the time of polarization right now. Protests don’t create solutions, but they do put a spotlight on problems. Many protesters are peaceful and then there is the mix of those that seek to create chaos and crime. For those just watching the protests it can be hard know who is who.
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I find most people are ahistorical in how they perceive recent events. Think back to the hippies. Authorities and the government were appalled at their interest in sex, drugs, and rock and roll and disrespect for rules. Many in authority thought our country had gone to the dogs and would never return.
Over the decade hippies experimented with new social ideals. Some hippies dropped out but most realized they needed to work with the “man” to change the “man.” Business has flourished with the brilliant innovations, and out of the box thinking of the people formerly known as hippies. Our society has benefited immeasurably from the evolution that came after the original chaos the Hippie movement created.
We are in such a time again albeit with more violence involved. We don’t want to throw out the baby of important social change just because agents of chaos have jumped into this bathwater. These protesters, like former hippies, may be those that end up doing the work of changing the system from within and that’s when we’ll enter a period of rapid social improvement.
Protests, even former Love-Ins, don’t create the actual solutions to the actual complicated problems we face. Eventually the same people attending and supporting the protests will need to join together with the establishment to make our society more empathetic, collaborative, and respectful of differences. Revolution becomes evolution and that becomes the new establishment.
John Lewis, recently departed Civil Right Leader, pointed out, “You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time.”
He went on to point out that love must triumph over hate. For us to truly become what leaders like Lewis dreamed of our focus needs to be on creating solutions.
We can easily criticize and get angry at what we believe is wrong. The uplifting reality of the peaceful protests is the sheer numbers of Americans with passion to create a better world. I loved a film clip of protesters doing yoga on New York streets since it’s hard to be an enraged yoga practitioner. Unfortunately the violence of outside agitators is diluting the important message of social justice and undermines the vision of great leaders like Lewis.
You each get to choose right now. Are you going to be a force for integration or a force for division? The lens you look through will determine whether you alienate or collaborate with true social change.
If our current crises become a launching pad of a society that chooses empathy over hate, solutions over criticisms, and collaboration over division then we may emerge from this crisis transformed in ways that makes meaning out of our current suffering. The protests only underline the issues. The more quickly the hard work of creating solutions begins the faster real social change begins.
The last word(s)
Q: I find it easy to see all the downsides of this pandemic. Do you think there is a primary upside as well?
A: Yes, in quarantining we are being forced to evaluate and improve our core relationships, work, and lives. If we use this opportunity we cannot help but come out of the pandemic better than we went into it.
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(Daneen Skube, Ph.D., executive coach, trainer, therapist and speaker, also appears as the FOX Channel’s “Workplace Guru” each Monday morning. She’s the author of “Interpersonal Edge: Breakthrough Tools for Talking to Anyone, Anywhere, About Anything” (Hay House, 2006). You can contact Dr. Skube at www.interpersonaledge.com or 1420 NW Gilman Blvd., #2845, Issaquah, WA 98027. Sorry, no personal replies.)
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