Thursday, April 30, 2015
Shame and Hope
I think its interesting that shame and hope, two emotions that seem antithetical, both play into Lebron's writing. He uses shame as a tool for improving American society; shame is a necessary step on the path away from racism within ourselves and our institutions. In order to remake our national character, the white citizens of America must first feel profound shame for the systemic racism that pervades society (whether willful or unconscious). Shame, as an emotion, lingers for a long time, never really going away. The shame you feel because you have wronged someone will often leave you to conclude you must rectify your mistake, although the nature of shame is such that you will never totally be able to make up for your wrongs. Yet, within shame, and within Lebron's writings, is a sense of hope about what can come after shame. One quote from Lebron highlighted this sense of hope, so I'll include it here: "To be a disadvantaged agent is not the same as being a determined agent. We retain the capacity to be better selves than we are. This is the value of mobilizing the idea of shame..." (13). This is far different picture than many political scientists paint because it includes a a sense of agency. Despite the systemic nature of racism, we as individuals can choose to understand the nature of the problem before us and feel shame that it still exists. While institutions are vital to eliminating racism, Lebron's argument vests power in the individual to work through the shame to become a better self, ultimately helping to reduce or eliminate systemic racism.
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I also found the hopeful element of Lebron's concept of shame to be pretty interesting and clearly it is also somewhat instrumental to his argument. He writes that we have to care about shame because "we care about our ideals and the possibility of falling away from them" because "they are instrumental, if not intrinsically valuable, for our flourishing" (23). I think this is true both on an individual and national level. Shame motivates action and change because ideals are so important. Lebron mentions how Socrates and Plato used shame in teaching as "both respectful and public" (24). Shame can be respectful because "it takes persons where they stand but also aims to help them hold themselves accountable on their own view of appropriate principles and ideals" (24). When individuals feel shame, it is uncomfortable and they want to take steps to more closely align their actions with their principles. As such, shame is aspirational and "can help bring our deliberations and actions into coherence with prior affirmed ideals," just demonstrating possibility and hope for rectifications of injustice (25).
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