It's All About Where You're Sitting

Life is about vantage points.

Where you sit, where you stand, how you can see things affects what this world means to you. I was reminded of that simple fact this weekend.

A homeboy of mine came by the crib and we chopped it up about basketball, women, video games and life. This cat is a couple years younger than me, and while we share some of the same interests, our lives have been very different. He never attended college, still lives with his folks, and has not seen or learned much about the world.

He's an intelligent cat, very intelligent, but he never developed that intelligence in an academic sense. More importantly, his world is just small.

For example, when we talked this weekend he'd just watched some roundtable discussion on BET and discovered something shocking about the world. He'd learned that sexism is a real problem and that women face discrimination similar to what black people face. Apparently, he had no idea this was going on.

I told y'all his world was small.

It was his comment, along with another comment he made about never having read a single novel that influenced his worldview like music, that inspired me to write about vantage points. See, he and I can agree on many issues, particularly basketball, but on other things we're worlds apart. And the weird thing is that distance is due to our vantage points.

I wrote a while back that I wanted to control the impulse to be bitter and angry in perpetuity. It's little reminders like this that can both encourage me on that path, and convince me that my attempts are ultimately pointless.

Accepting viewpoints that seem offensive or insensitive can be a little easier if I'm convinced that folks just don't see things my way because they've never walked in my shoes or had a chance to experience my life. Yet, because there is no way I can ever really put them in my shoes the possibility that meaningful change can ever occur is bleak. That depresses me because I am worried that my son will have to fight the same battles I've fought instead of breaking new ground.

I think I want to devote myself to activities that expand people's vantage points, that force them to consider things outside of their typical sphere of influence. Blogging does some of that, but most of y'all agree with me on issues of race, which is the largest area where change needs to occur. Consequently, I've decided that I have to be more friendly and more patient with people if I want to create lasting change. Anybody with some more suggestions is welcome to comment on the blog.

I've got to get up out of my regular seat.