(Illusion and Reality)
A system is something where all the parts work together to accomplish a specific purpose. Everything in the universe is a system – whether it is natural or made by humans. A human body is a system. A car is a system. Normally, there are smaller systems that support the purpose of the larger system. The veins in our body are an example, as are the fuel lines in a car. It is all the smaller systems working in harmony that empower the larger system to accomplish its purpose.
A culture is a large system made up of a variety of smaller systems: family, political, educational, health, financial, media, etc. When we call for systemic change we are calling for the whole system to be transformed. This means all its parts must participate so that they support the purpose of the larger whole in a new harmonious fashion. To change only one or two of the small systems in a large system does not guarantee systemic change.
Back in the nineteen sixties we wanted a systemic change in America that would end racial discrimination. We wanted the entire culture to reflect equality of citizenry worth. We rallied and we protested to raise social consciousness of this need. And because there were major laws enacted that were supportive of our goal we thought we achieved systemic change. But we did not, even though we created significant reforms that opened the black population to greater acceptance and freedom.
To remind us that we had not achieved systemic cultural change the Republican Party, in the first quarter of the twenty first century, has openly sought to suppress the voter rights of the black citizenry. And in 2016 the Republican Party and a large segment of the population elected a president who is vehemently and spitefully in support of such racial injustices. Certain elements of law enforcement have been encouraged by this despotic national leadership. Consequently, many black citizens find themselves the focus of brutal abuse and murder by the police without the recourse of a sympathetic justice system.
So, again, the citizenry has resorted to rallies and protests calling for a systemic change about race relationships in the nation’s culture. Much of the demanded focus is on a change of laws about how police do their work. And the citizenry is right in what is being called for but, as in the nineteen sixties, is wrong about how to make it happen on a sustained basis. Laws are important because they instruct right behavior. But they do not require a change of attitude that motivates wrong behavior.
Here is the governing rule of systemic culture change: All sustained social change is brought about by sustained belief change. This is a primary lesson of history which was dramatically illustrated by the ministry of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Far more than laws that would make it possible for blacks and whites to eat in the same dining establishment, he wanted a change in the nation’s social beliefs that would make such laws irrelevant. He called it heart change.
If we do not want to revisit this race issue over and over again we must change more than the law. If we want significant systemic change the citizenry, itself, must embrace the baseline of democracy: belief in the worth equality of every citizen. Social justice is about how we relate and how we relate is driven by beliefs.
There are two smaller cultural systems which have the greatest capacity to create systemic change because both are about instilling and upholding beliefs. One is the family. But such private teaching cannot be socially regulated. The other is the nation’s public education system which taught beliefs can be regulated. And we know from history that a nation’s school system is the one most likely to create belief change and shape cultural destiny. So, whatever hope exists for a citizenry devoted to equality of worth lies in making democratic civics the heart of America’s education system – from pre-school through advanced degree. The racial inequities and brutalities we are presently experiencing reflect our past failure to instill the basic beliefs of democracy in the hearts of the nation’s future citizens.
This does not mean that individual teachers of civics have failed. It is a systemic failure. Our education system has not been an effective model that enthralls youth to embrace citizenry equality. It remains subtly invested in a reality where individual worth is competitively imported and where the freedom of individual whim prevails over community good. It is in our schools where the foundation for democratic cultural change is laid. But this will only happen when our education system – from coach to principal and from who is on the school board to what is on the chalk board – persistently models democratic relating.
And how will we know when this model is being successful? Not when the graduates march in the streets but when 90% of them vote!
Robert
Robert T. Latham
mythinglink.com
Yes, Robert. I agree. We need heart change and education systems that help create informed citizens who know what democracy is and believe in its principles and exercise and value their right to have a voice and vote.