Complacency or Complicity?

• by ywca_admin
• May 8, 2019

 

Recently I participated in yet another rally and vigil – this one in response to the synagogue shooting in San Diego.  In my mind the vigils, the marches and the mass shootings are starting to run together – whether it was Charlottesville, Charleston, Pittsburgh, ChristChurch in New Zealand, or Sri Lanka – it seems the list is endless and there is no impetus from national leadership to end it.  The inevitable “thoughts and prayers” follow each incident of mass violence, and then we forget until the next one.  Many of us gather, speak of the need for gun regulations and ending these senseless killings; we bemoan the increased local appearance of hate-filled graffiti.  We hear our local elected officials and faith leaders speak about acceptance, love and community; we light candles and recite the names of the victims.  Yet beyond these vigils, there is an overwhelming sense of complacency about how to achieve meaningful change.

I find myself filled with rage after each incident, and then the rage turns to exhaustion.  How long can we go on like this?

I fear that like so many around us, I am becoming complacent.  It’s so easy to just say “It is what it is” or a similar over-used phrase.  I fear that we will never see gun regulation in my lifetime, that “active shooter drills” will continue to be as routine as fire drills, that seeing an armed security guard outside the entrance to my house of worship will be as accepted as the greeter inside.

Yet if I become complacent – I become complicit in the continuation of the messaging of hate and fear.  To be complacent in the wake of a mass shooting, particularly one based on racial or religious intolerance, is to be complicit in marking groups of people as “the other.”  It’s to be complicit in enabling the growing racism, intolerance, ethnocentrism, and misogyny that seems to be taking over in so many parts of this country. To quote Elie Weisel, “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

The YWCA, as one of the oldest social justice organizations in the nation, encourages us to resist complacency with resources, advocacy, and opportunities to stand up and make a difference.  Whether participating in a Stand Against Racism event, contacting your legislator, participating in a march, or just becoming informed about the issues that impact us – our active involvement with the YWCA can help keep us motivated, energized, and steer us away from complacency and into action.

And so as both the leader of the YWCA, and an individual who has always been committed to social justice,  I will remain vigilant, to holding on to the anger but turning it into action; to force myself to pay attention even when I want to turn my head away.  And I commit to retaining a sense of hope for the future – for that is the only thing that will prevent me from become complacent and equally complicit.

Jan Lilien, CEO

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