Just to be

In recent media there have been statements around netball and racism, I’m going to be clear – it was the letter shared by a netballer that she had received. Typically, I don’t read the comments on those articles, but today, for whatever reason, I did.

On one hand it was interesting to read the two perspectives, after all there are usually more than one take on any moment in time. What many of the comments were focused on circled around a sense of ‘this isn’t racism’. So I googled a few definitions of racism just to have it clarified in my own mind. I could rephrase and say was the letter antagonistic because of the recipient’s race (which is part of the definition of racism)?

Ultimately, I think it is bigger than racism. And to arrive at this I went back to Jesus in the gospels as thinking about racism took me to sexism and exclusion in my mental processes and I thought what would the great includer do or say about this? (not that I can answer that – I’m merely sharing my thought process). It seems to me that a person has decided they have a right to impact on a person and how they be the person they are called to be. Obviously, I am not saying a person can do whatever they want – we have laws etc and hopefully some moral standing generally accepted in society. But this was a woman who did not ‘rally the troops’ but simply made a stand for herself and her mob. She has the right (within the parameters of the law) to be who she is. One could argue that the woman who wrote the letter also has the right. It is an interesting situation to reflect on. I’m not taking sides here – I think ultimately it reminds me that we need to understand that freedom involves being who you are, this is the great gift of freedom – that you can be who you are.

There was a significant amount of that letter that I would suggest lacked kindness and compassion and understanding. Was it racism? For that I am not sure. But perhaps it is a timely reminder that we need to be – just to be. This is the greatest gift. Maybe we need to think about how what we do can impact another’s ability to be – for humanity best excels when we all strive to be the best version of self.

If the gospels taught me one big thing it is that we need to try to be the best version of humanity we can. Our best versions look after each other and our world, not tear them down.