Dharma and Ethics - How are we doing?

Hello all,

Namaste! I want to let my blog readers know about my new website-swaroopa.net. Very simple id, not the complicated blog id address. Now to the post.

This week I was planning to write about the bioethics of Covid-19. But the incident that shocked the world last Monday on May 25, 2020 and deeply touched the human consciousness forced me to change the topic. When a brutal and horrific murder, that of a very helpless George Floyd, happened in plain sight, committed by the very people who were supposed to protect helpless humans and community, I cannot write about anything else. So, I am deliberately changing the topic.

Before proceeding, I want to mention that this post is not against any group, ethnicity, class, race or skin color. I am of the point of view that if a being, animal or even a tree happens to come into existence on this globe, it has a right to live and thrive. So, this is not putting down one community to uphold another. This green, beautiful planet belongs to everyone, and I deeply believe and uphold that principle. If you exist - you have a right to thrive!

Here, I need to be fully transparent. Last week, I was thinking of writing about it, but I was totally afraid whether there would be deep backlash, because, on one side, it was the police and, on the other, it was the institutionally marginalized black community. I am an Indian American, with brown skin. How much can and should I write about it? So, I hesitated. I also needed some time to organize, analyze and research my thoughts. This week, I decided to write about it.

The wheel of Dharma!
Image credits - Wikimedia Commons

What are Dharma and ethics? We have discussed this before. According to Wikipedia, "In Hinduism, dharma signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta, the order that makes life and universe possible, and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and 'right way of living.' " Now, what is ethics? Again, according to Wikipedia, "Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior." So, as I understand, Dharma is from a spiritual and inner point of view, while ethics is from a moral, behavior or action oriented point of view. That means, Dharma is the thoughts and mindset while ethics is the associated actions or behaviors.

Both are important. We have discussed before that "Our inner reality shines outside". So, if our thoughts and mindset are not correct, that is going to reflect outside. Not only will conscious thoughts affect our mindset, but subconscious thoughts too. They decide our reality. This post is going to be about how generations of black people in America were disenfranchised and have found it very difficult to come out of a vicious cycle, which holds them captive.

By this post, I am planning to explore the ethical as well as the emotional space and how they can come out of it and find their deep value and dignity. I must repeat, I am an Indian American watching and exploring from outside. But my intention is for every human being in this world to lead a happy, valuable and very worthy life. Every single person deserves a fighting chance at life. I would love to see a world peaceful, joyful and dancing with vibrancy. Let us hope very soon.

Africans towards America: As early as the 1500s, Africans were brought to the New World. But many times as the journey was long and by ship, the slaves could not be fully brought to the Americas. Many died along the way due to sickness, disease and ill-health. But the first successful settlement happened in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 when some 20 Africans were brought in a privateer owned by a slave merchant called John Jope. Remember, many of these Africans were young boys aged 17-25 years old. They had lived in their tribes for all their lives and were suddenly brought a long way to another side of the world.

They would have been terrified, thirsty and helpless. Just think of George Floyd on Monday- terrified, helpless and desperate. Future American president Abraham Lincoln, then a teenager, felt sad and melancholic when he saw slaves traded in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1828. The memory of the trading, with slave owners selling slaves--males as well as females, by poking, prodding, and showing them to the customers--was etched in his mind. Slave trade in the South was rampant as the plantation owners needed people to pick cotton or tobacco and do other types of menial labor.

Slaves waiting to be traded in Richmond, Virginia, US
Image credits - Eyre Crowe / Public domain

Think about it. You are an orphan in a foreign country, owned by the slave owners with no way to have a decent life or freedom. Today, all of us enjoy our freedom and privileges. Think of humans who had none of that; even their body and mind owned by the owners. Terrible, isn't it? At this time they would have started feeling deep shame and humiliation, unable to have their inner power or voice. Truly a terrible state. As we have discussed before, shame and guilt can take a great toll on humans. Their grasp are so deep, it is like the python tied around their subconscious mind--asphyxiating with no escape or nowhere to run, as deep emotional wounds. We can fix a physical wound, but what about a deep, emotional, subconscious wound?

Many times, we have discussed about the collective conscious. Now, take the African Americans as a group. Think about the deep shame and emotional wound they may be carrying as a collective. They want to remove it, but they can't as well, as the very essence of the pain most probably is deeply wired in their psyche. Above this, many times, the owners own the women and they may have to bear the children of the slave masters. (I feel so sad writing this, when I tap into their collective emotional mind. I deeply wish may all of them find their value, deep peace and joy.)

In the midst of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, freeing the slaves, 250 years after the slave trade started. So, already the pain and shame has been deeply etched into the psyche of the African Americans. But now at least they started enjoying the freedom. But even then, they had to be cotton pickers or factory workers to find jobs and take care of families. In between, a lot of other things happened, about which you can read here. As this is a small blog, one cannot write every thing.

African Americans in the South: Even after the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans were not considered full citizens. They were segregated. That was the next painful episode that has scarred the psyche of the African Americans. You are not a slave anymore, but you cannot sit, eat, or be around the same place as the whites. Many atrocities happened in those times. Here I want to mention another thing. As many African Americans feel shame in their subconscious mind, many white Americans also feel guilt. This I can relate to, being from India. In India and in Hinduism, there was the caste system in the 1800s as well as the 1900s. The higher castes used to treat the lower castes with disgust and arrogance, making them valueless. Today, many Indians who were in the higher caste feel guilt while the people who were of the lower caste feel shame.

Slave trader, Sold to Tennessee
Image credits - Unknown author / Public domain

But as I have mentioned before that guilt and shame are two of the deepest emotional wounds that prevent people from living a full, vibrant life. Keeping it aside and ignoring it does not really either. Each group has to become okay with the past. Yes, it happened. One group was marginalized by the other group. One group now feels shame and another feels guilt. Often, these feelings also transform into fear and anger. These four emotions are the darkest emotions humans feel. Anger can later transform into rage and hate, while shame and fear can go the other way, morphing into depression and other mental issues. The best way to come out of it is for one side to totally acknowledge it and for the other side to forgive.

But even here adharmic, unethical behavior or injustice needs to be punished. Murdering under any circumstance is not okay. Looting and stealing as well, under any circumstance, is not correct. Regardless, coming back to the African Americans, even after the freedom they got, they had to go through segregation. Many of the facilities were clearly for the people who had skin of white color. Segregation was rampant. Beaches, restaurants, transportation and public facilities were differentiated into whites and colored.

In the late 19th century, a set of laws called the Jim Crow laws were enacted in the Southern states to enforce racial segregation. Jim Crow was a persona developed by the playwright and writer Thomas D.Rice to racially depict African Americans and their culture. These laws made sure that colored Americans were kept separate from the white Americans. Even though slavery was abolished in 1863, the Southern, previously Confederate states, even though African Americans were free, kept them segregated using the Supreme Court doctrine upheld in the case Plessy v. Ferguson that came to be known as "Separate but equal." This made sure colored people were indeed kept apart from the whites. This also made sure public education was kept separate, leading to colored people being unable to access the same resources and facilities as the other group.

A depiction of the Jim Crow persona
Image credits - Edward Williams Clay
/ Public domain

In 1954, in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, it was unanimously declared by the Supreme Court of the US, under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren, that it was unconstitutional to segregate schools that were publicly funded or state-sponsored. It took years and even decades to enact the same laws in several states, showcasing how African Americans had to fight and protest to get every right they deserved as equal citizens of the country.

At this time, as African Americans were treated with strong-arming and made sure they were kept segregated. This led to fights and battles between African Americans and public officials and police officers who were to make sure the segregation and the separate-but-equal laws were being enacted. This led many African Americans to be pained and stressed and they, in great numbers, started moving to the Northern states. This is referred to as the Great Migration. Around six million African Americans moved from the rural Southern states to Northeastern, Midwest and Western states.

Civil rights movement: This migration approximately happened in two phases. One around 1914-1940 and the second wave around 1940-1970. Many moved into the city and urban areas, seeking new opportunities. Often, they didn't have any money; whatever they had, they had to spend on transportation. In their new locations, they would have had to work and earn to buy things. Most probably, owning a car would have been difficult. So, it would be easier for people to access facilities in the city. You can walk or go by a cycle, and you don't need a car. This slowly led to African Americans moving into the cities, with whites moving out of the cities to the suburbs. This status quo still persists today in the US.

Coming back to the history, even moving to the Northeast, Midwest and Western states, the opportunities for African Americans were less compared to whites. Even though in the Northeast, Midwest and West, segregation was less, the segregation continued in the Southern states. To end this racial segregation, racial discrimination and disenfranchisement, the Civil Rights movement started in the late 19th century, gaining momentum in the 1960s as African Americans were fed up of the way they were treated differently and with discrimination.

1963 March on Washington D.C.
Image credits - Rowland Scherman / Public domain

In December 1, 1955, a 15 year old teenager, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger in the public transport in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested. Rosa Parks did the same thing after nine months. These incidents gave momentum to the movement and later it gained even more in the 1960s. The arrest later led to the Boycott of the Montgomery Bus system for passengers to be treated equally. Then there were many many steps that happened which led to leaders like Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. joining the movement. By their and other African American leaders hard work, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was finally passed. Even though President John F. Kennedy started the process, due to his assassination, it was his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the act. This banned the centuries old segregation African Americans were facing.

Another important development was happening in Selma, Alabama. The Selma Students Non-violent Committee (SNCC) was trying to register voters for election, and Sheriff Jim Clark was opposed to that. On March 7, according to the plan of the director of Selma movement James Bevel and because the death of a resident of Selma happened due to police, a march was organized from Selma to the state capital in Montgomery. As soon as the protestors got out of the bridge into the countryside, police, law enforcement officers and mounted police attacked the peaceful protestors with tear gas, rubber tubes wrapped in barbed wire, and bull whips. We can draw parallels to the same teargassing of peaceful protestors in Washington D.C., just five days back on Monday, June 1, 2020, so that the President of the United States could take a picture in front of a church with a Bible.

Leaders of the March on Washington posing before the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963
Image credits - Rowland Scherman / Public domain

The Voting Rights Act was passed again in 1965 after a lot of protests and struggle. This later led to even more struggles and on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. This led to nationwide protests and riots, and finally led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination against the sale, rental, and housing based on race, religion, and national origin. Like this African Americans have struggled for the last 400-500 years to become an equal citizen of the country in every aspect.

Current times: As this is just a small blog, I have omitted many details. But this was to portray the struggle African Americans have endured as a community and are still enduring. In the last thirty years, even though many things have changed, implicit and explicit racism still exists. This can be realized by how the number of African Americans is much higher than whites who fill American prisons. The number of young African American teenagers who get pulled over and arrested. Above this, the very sad part is the number of African American men who get killed in police confrontations. We can list names after names. A simple search would bring people who were killed carelessly, whose life could have been spared so that they could have lived their life to the fullest.

There are a lot of really good, genuine and very responsible police officers. A lot. A majority of them are very respectful of their job, community, and the way they conduct their official duties. It is because of them, we are all able to sleep peacefully at night. Yes, the police and law enforcement are certainly  needed for a society and community to thrive. But we also should not forget the deep struggle African Americans have gone through. My question is why must they struggle? This is their home too--the United States of America. They have lived here from the beginning at Jamestown.

So, deep change in American society and psyche has to happen. African Americans should move past the shame they may feel about the history. Shame is a very deep, very hard feeling that won't allow people to live a joyful, thriving life. Similarly, white people should start to accept African Americans and other colored community fully and totally as they are. The way a police officer behaved, who was supposed to protect the helpless, brings to our mind again and again that many among us are not treated as they should be with respect, kindness and compassion.

The Great Seal of the United States of America!
Image credits - U.S. Government
/ Public domain

It is this deep injustice that has happened that triggered all the protests across the nation. The way every race came together to protest was beautiful and very inspiring. But just protesting when killings happen is not enough. The question is where is the Dharma and ethics when an African American teenager is afraid to walk through a neighborhood. Where is the concern when a lady who was white tried to send her dog or call the police as if she was threatened for her life, when there was actually no threat? How can we justify when a whole group of people find it difficult to find good public schools due to less funding, or less opportunities because they are not able to fund their education or career? Or not able to afford better housing? How can we really justify when some people are having so much money, they don't know how to spend it while a single black mom with two kids has to work for three, sometimes even four jobs? This shows that in this society, black lives matter too! They and their lives are as precious and needed as any other life, that occupies this Earth.

It is not enough to just give education or opportunities, whatever is the color or the race. We also have to start respecting one another not on the basis of color, race, religion, tags, titles, but on who we are. We need to start respecting the human beneath everything, whatever their color or however they look. It could have been very well any of us underneath that knee, gasping for our air, even a white American. Think in those terms. How it would have been if it was instead of George Floyd, it was you, me or one of our loved ones? Won't we feel terrible? How can we ever justify something that was so atrocious for anyone who got to watch the video? It could have been any one of us.

Changes in the mindset and social perspectives should happen. For that, the first step is to select a leader who leads us to the proper respectful place we deserve to be. All of us need to have awareness. Yesterday, I heard someone saying, unfortunately it is not Abraham Lincoln in the White house. Remember, it was President Lincoln who ended slavery by enacting the Emancipation Proclamation. So, it becomes the duty of every American to uphold the freedom and justice he strove for day and night. It should not be allowed to be torn apart by someone who has no love for the country, only for himself. If we are not careful, the country itself can be torn apart by the racial tensions, with someone in the middle who is trying to divide America rather than unite. Remember the phrase: "Out of many one." The mantra of the United States of America!

E Pluribus Unum!

So, the momentum people are feeling should transform into the votes that select the new leader in the White House, this coming November. Remember, a leader can lead us to a crocodile-infested swamp or to a shining city on a hill. It is our choice in the elections. But this is the one time where every single choice matters. Every single vote matters. The racial tensions have exacerbated much more in the last three years. So, we need to open our awareness to truth and see who was actually inflaming the guilt, anger, rage and hate.

America is a shining example of an experiment in democracy. But when military personnel stand in front of the Lincoln Memorial and White House in full military attire, it is time for us to see the signs and symbols. A person who does not love the country or people, should they deserve to be the head of the country and lead the people in a democracy? It is not autocracy or dictatorship--it is democracy. So, if African Americans as well as all members of the society need the change, progress, and expansion, as well as values like equality, justice, morality and ethics, we need to make our choice and choose wisely on November 3, 2020.

Along with the change we make to keep our country the shining beacon of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we should choose how we live in society and what our values are. They should be such that while we strive for excellence in ourselves, we must also not deter others from reaching their excellence. For that, as of now, we need a change in our own mindset, attitude as well as the top leadership of the country.

A Quote by Rosa Parks!
Image credits - BrainyQuote.com

So, as of now, as humanity, from a dharmic and ethical point of view, cannot give ourselves an excellent score. We have much more to go to see "Thy neighbor as thyself". How can we, when our own knee is on the neck of our own kind? How can we, when our own kind is ordered to be teargassed by our own kind? How can we, when our own kind drives military trucks and military personnel into our midst to break us apart, so that we stand divided? Remember, the name of the country is "The UNITED states of America," not the "Divided States of America." Let us remember that when we go to the polls this November.

I wish you a good and safe weekend, and I'll see you next Friday!😉
  
Next week: Why do we need Bioethics?
Image Credits:  Wikimedia Commons and BrainyQuote.com