Striking parallels between healing racism and our own health

Fifty-seven years ago, Martin Luther King wrote, “Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”

His words ring true as much today as they did then. We can’t heal what we don’t see. The murder of George Floyd is bringing the reality that black Americans have been living for decades into plain sight. As white people, we can no longer bury our heads and pretend that radical change isn’t necessary.  

Similar principles apply to healing racism and disease. In both cases, we need to shine a light on the wound so we can see it in the light of day. There is societal and personal resistance to seeing pain. Once thousands of people take to the streets, we can’t help but see. Street riots are akin to the body or mind screaming with symptoms we can’t tolerate.

We can use tear gas to suppress a rioting crowd or suppressive drugs to anesthetize our symptoms but to heal either, we need to be willing to take a deep look at the truth. In both cases, we may not feel fully equipped to handle the truth. Inequity, incarceration, unemployment and police brutality can’t be addressed with one solution. Similarly, there is no drug that can cure you of a chronic condition or struggle.

Whether we’re healing our society or our bodies, we need a long-term willingness to show up and be vulnerable which includes feeling things that are inconvenient and unpleasant. The skills you develop are similar to those you need to show up for societal healing. When we care for ourselves, it’s much easier to care for others. When we hide from our own truth and allow small wars to wage within us, we’re more likely to unconsciously fall into ignoring societal problems that are pervasive.