In light of everything that has been going on in America in the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to change my mind and why I (and others) are often so averse to the idea.
As long as I’ve had political opinions, I’ve considered myself fairly liberal. However, it took me longer than I care to admit to realize that I still had (and have) a lot to learn in the fight for justice and equality. I grew up hearing about the ‘War Between the States’ and that ‘the Civil War was about much more than slavery.’ These phrases didn’t just come from anywhere, they came from people I love, respect, and look up to. Because of what I heard growing up and from whom I heard it, I had attitudes about aspects of our nation’s history that I’m not proud of. It has taken me a while to acknowledge and accept the biases I had in an effort to change them. The biggest and most memorable wake-up call came in my early years of college. I earned my undergraduate degree during Trump’s presidency. From the 2016 election to the COVID-19 pandemic, my college experience was surrounded by partisan politics and massive change in America. In 2017, probably around the time of the Charlottesville rally and subsequent national outrage, a close friend and I got into a discussion about Confederate monuments and imagery. Because of some of my inherent biases, I brought up a version of what is generally known as the ‘heritage not hate’ argument. I was of the opinion that we need not ‘destroy history’ by removing these monuments. My friend, a person of color, explained to me that whatever history is connected to those monuments and other imagery has been manipulated and co-opted into a symbol of hate, fully intended to strike fear into people of color. I had never heard it explained that way. I naively believed that people were simply proud of their Southern heritage. I had never thought that much about it because I had never had to. After that conversation, I thought more about it, and I continue to think about it today. Even if it is about history (which I find hard to believe at this point), why should we erect monuments to a history that fought to enslave and subjugate an entire population solely based on the color of their skin? Why are these monuments supposedly the only way to remember the war that nearly tore our nation apart and the lives that were lost in that war? As I said, I’m not proud to recall how I used to think of the Civil War and its place in our history. But how am I supposed to grow and learn if I cannot acknowledge the times I spoke out of ignorance? How can I stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and other social justice initiatives without first acknowledging how I myself have been complicit in the problems facing this nation?
I am stubborn person. I do not like to be told or to admit that I am wrong. In this case, however, I’m proud to say that I was wrong, and I’m proud to say that I changed my mind.
I do not write this from a position of self-praise. I write this to publicly acknowledge that I was wrong, I have a lot to learn, and I can (and will) change my mind. I encourage everyone who reads this to confront their biases, acknowledge their privilege, and listen to the voices of those who are trying to teach them. We cannot let our stubbornness stand in the way of our education and place us on the wrong side of history. We can change our minds, and I think it’s about time many of us did.