Wednesday, September 23, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Commentary...
Every person in our family is worth saving
By Katy Yoder
Columnist
after they realized who he
was and what he was saying
on podcasts to his followers.
Eventually, he transformed
himself, by opening his
mind and heart to the fact
that white supremacy was
illogical and immoral.
In his youth, Black used
his intellect to expand the
infiltration of white suprem-
acy into mainstream poli-
tics. After his epiphany, he
felt a moral obligation to
undo the damage he9d done.
I respect him for his cour-
age and resolve to admit his
mistakes and recognize his
family9s role in indoctrinat-
ing him into a philosophy
that is heartless and just
plain ridiculous.
The philosophy he was
taught and then followed
is why people are protest-
ing. It9s why some people
are rioting. When people
reach their breaking point,
it9s not pretty, it9s not com-
fortable and it9s not easy
to watch. What we see on
the news, and many biased
social media outlets, is often
simplistic and one-sided.
An image of BLM protest-
ers standing by broken win-
dows seemed to tell a story.
But later, footage showed
white supremacists walk-
ing down that street before
the BLM folks arrived and
smashing windows to make
it look like BLM protesters
were at fault.
During trying times, the
truth is complicated and
the receiving end of ongo-
ing injustices, it9s a matter
of life or death. I love my
country. But I don9t love
some of its past and present
policies that protect unjust
behavior.
It9s time we began
embodying the words
of visionary Frederick
Douglass who said, <It is
easier to build strong chil-
dren than to repair broken
men,= and the wisdom of
Indigenous elder Black Elk,
<Any man who is attached
to things of this world is
one who lives in ignorance
and is being consumed
by the snakes of his own
passions.=
Loving each other
regardless of our exterior
and respecting the planet
and environment that sus-
tains us is a matter of life
and death for future gen-
erations. Every person in
our family is worth saving,
and it9s up to us to make it
happen.
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THE FLU
CLOSURES: Highways
22 and 126 may be
closed into winter
Continued from page 1
to remain closed for a con-
siderable period 4 perhaps
into winter 4 due to the dan-
ger of falling trees and rock.
OregonLive reported last
week that hundreds of thou-
sands of trees will have to be
removed along those routes.
ODOT spokesman Peter
Murphy told The Nugget on
Monday that the agency is
discussing whether Highway
242 will be reopened to the
portion of Highway 126
unaffected by the fire, so that
motorists can drive the loop
through the scenic mountain
area during fall. Murphy said
that that call will be made in
collaboration with the Forest
Service and with ODOT
officials on the west side
(watch for updates at www.
nuggetnews.com).
often not what9s visible on
the surface. It9s up to us to
dig deeper and investigate,
and not believe what we
read or see until we9ve taken
the time to verify the facts.
I9ve been guilty of read-
ing something, believing it,
getting mad and passing it
along. That hasn9t been the
best course of action. Now,
I take time to research, fact-
check and move a little
slower to ensure I9m sharing
accurate information that
is enlightening and I hope,
thought-provoking.
I9m also struck by how
folks are accusing each
other of being unpatriotic
when they question our
government, our traditions,
and our past. I always come
back to the analogy of our
country as a family. We
have a sometimes proud and
sometimes hurtful past. Our
present was marinated in
400 years of racism. That is
a fact. It9s hard to stomach
for some, but for those on
with
Navigating life during a
pandemic and social unrest
is challenging but full of
opportunities. Tumultuous
times demand new think-
ing that breaks free from
unjust institutions. Some
traditions intentionally or
inadvertently maintain old
systems designed to divide
and degrade segments of
the population. As a white
woman who has had a
blessed life, I now see the
many ways that system
stepped on the backs of
marginalized populations to
maintain my comfort.
From our country9s
beginning, colonists
lived on lands taken from
Indigenous people. Across
the nation, petroglyphs and
pictographs reveal lives,
hearts, and hands of the
first ones to call this place
home. I have learned after
hearing words of wisdom
from an Indigenous man,
Wilson Wewa, that when I
found arrowheads made by
his ancestors and took them
home, I was erasing their
history.
Listening to past and
present stories of Indigenous
people, I see the land differ-
ently. It was taken from one
group and given to another
4 all part of a concerted
effort to take control of
land and make it part of the
expanding territories of the
United States government.
These actions came down to
economics and the myth of
superiority based on religion
and skin color.
I9m reading a book,
<Caste= which offers a new
perspective on how our gov-
ernment was formed and
why. People were divided
by skin color. Those with
the darkest pigment, and
brought against their will,
were at the bottom of the
caste system. They9re still
in that position. Some have
made their way through
thick barriers erected to
stop their upward mobility.
Their success is a feat worth
admiring. But many are
still imprisoned in a system
established long ago to keep
them from escaping the fate
of their skin color.
I9m shedding the lessons
I received in school, from
family, books, television,
and movie screens. Just as
I9m seeing my home as a
place built on stolen lands,
I9m also accepting that I
unknowingly played a part
in perpetuating an unjust
system.
Last year, I read Eli
Saslow9s book about Derek
Black called <Rising Out of
Hatred: The Awakening of a
Former White Nationalist.=
It tells the story of Black9s
childhood in white suprem-
acy culture. Black was
responsible for retooling
the language and messaging
used to further his organi-
zation9s white supremacy
views. When he went to
college, he met his first
Jewish person, first person
of color and first progres-
sive-minded woman. Those
people took him in, even
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