A man of white privilege, a citizen of a nation built on the backs of minorities. I am the face of a race that has put billions
in their place. Not just a white, but also a man. I am injustice by being born,
from insurance coverage that allowed my birth, to the jobs my parents held. Given by the policies of my forefathers, my own success is the result of
racism, oppression, and privilege.
A mental health professional, a social agent of change, I’m
giving my privilege away. It’s time for drastic measures to fight for my
people, to make what has been made inhuman, human. I can’t be blind to the
depths of inequality in this land. 17, a number that hasn’t left my mind for
the entirety of this day. I passed 17 homeless people on my way to work this
morning, not begging, not drug dealing, but sleeping on the train, in the
doorway, in the gutter. People struggling with mental illness that never
receive treatment. Politicians who dare call the elderly, the mentally ill, the
disabled, lazy; taking the sacred scriptures of my faith and using it to
justify their atrocities against humanity, my humanity. As churches build
million dollar sanctuaries, recreation centers, and coffee shops, pouring
billions into the coffers of lobbyists for political action against gay
marriage and abortion. It’s all a little embarrassing.
Something is simmering within my profession, the lines are
uniting, the injustices coming to daylight.
My job isn’t about patients or cases, these are people, my
humanity, your humanity, and they deserve the right to be treated as such. We
are nothing without each other, criminal or not, disabled or able-bodied,
homosexual or heterosexual, woman or man, minority or majority, Muslim or
Christian, agnostic or atheist.
The filters through which we view people must be taken down,
to first see the person; only then can we begin to comprehend anything about
anyone. It’s time to stop treating humanity as a concept.
“Jesus, friend of sinners, open my eyes to the world at the
end of my pointing fingers. Let my heart be led by mercy, helping me reach with
open arms and open doors. Jesus, friend of sinners, continually breaking my
heart for what breaks yours.”
And this surely does break my heart, every moment of
everyday, driving me forward with greater purpose. I will not rest.
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