Stories to tell

For many of us we feel like we know our parents, but they had this whole life before we even existed, and it’s always interesting what stories you never hear about your parents until you somehow end up in a situation or a place that reminds them or that invites that story to be told. Walking around the University of Puget Sound with my Father, where both of my parents graduated I got to hear a story about my father that made me as proud as I have ever been of him. What made it even more poignant was that it was a story he had never told simply because to him it really was just him doing what he should. His story was about how he had quit his fraternity over an issue of racism and justice. He talked about a group in his fraternity that was refusing to admit black students and his response was to not admit the white students who this racist group was in favor of. To my dad this was the only response he could make and when pushed he felt he had to resign his membership in the fraternity because what he was doing wasn’t fair to the white students either and he could not remain a part of a group that was making decisions like that. The thing about it is that this thing he felt he simply should do, was an act of justice that many might agree with and understand and respect, but few would actually act on. Even reading this now I feel like it doesn’t nearly represent how big this little act of justice that was just what “should be done” was.

How many of us have seen injustice, listened to our friends or family say things that are just plain wrong and we stay silent. I hope that when I face those things I will have the courage that my dad showed. i hope we all will, because if we all stand up and refuse to tolerate hate and ignorance we can end it and the world will be a lot closer to what it can be.

Leave a comment