To aim for richer things
discussions. We don’t want it boxed and contained. It needs to be spread if gracious acceptance and inclusion are to become our norm. It is emotion that sets us in motion. It is what powers us to move towards our better selves. Not rampant emotion, not out of control emotion, but that emotion which stirs us deeply to find new courage. Language can lift us. It is why orators who authentically use such language move us so powerfully. The authenticity matters. Social psychology shows that meaningful cross-cultural contact permits us to see members of a different group as individuals, rather than in a depersonalised way; and that it creates context in which common identities can be formed.
This is not to say that one’s own valued identity is lost; rather it can be deepened.
Intentional cross-cultural contact takes time. And we are a time-poor culture. But one or two positive experiences can stimulate appetite for more.
It is worth making time for such experiences. We live in a diverse world not just a diverse nation. If ever a time existed in which there was uniformity it cannot easily be found today. Diversity is not really new. It’s always been with us. But often unhealthily underground. Better that we embrace diversity with wisdom. There’s a lesson from nature here — earth’s ecosystem flourishes because of diversity.
John Dewey’s wise words are relevant here: “We don’t learn from our experience, we learn from reflecting on our experience.”
When we reflect, we bring language to our experiences. Language enables us to process those experiences and our emotional responses to them. This is why time is needed to think and converse together positively about diversity.
And all of this supports magnanimous holding of that tension which is upon us all: that not all difficulties have immediate solutions.
Many, we must abide with dignity and hope while the change-wheel turns.
But don’t tolerate tolerance. Raise the bar to kindness and grace. Rosalie Martin is the Tasmanian Australian of the Year.