Beyond Tolerance: Peace begins at home

"Tolerance" is a word that has gotten considerable mileage in an era of political correctness. The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, defines it as "recognizing and respecting the opinions, practices and behaviors of others" and in theory it is one of the noblest acts we can exercise in an enlightened society. Its exercise however, seems a little light on the "respecting" end of its meaning, with the "recognizing" aspects reminiscent of what my parents used to tell me to do when my younger brother was antagonizing me. They would appeal for me to "ignore him" or "just put up with it" anything short of resorting to violence was fine. In other words, tone-deaf renditions of "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones…" often seem the generalized approach to issues of prejudice for our society.  For those of us in the business of preserving, sharing, supporting and celebrating the very soul of diverse cultures it stands to reason that we help set the example for going beyond "tolerance" or at least employing its inherent implications.

If it appears that I am taking a lofty view atop this mighty fine soapbox here, than allow me to explain how I arrived at these conclusions - or - should I say confess. Cue organ music, Bump - Bump - Bum. It was actually while I was writing up a press release for a new program that Happy Feet is offering, "A Quick Trip around the World" that these thoughts occurred to me. I wrote of the program, (cue passionate violin music to crescendo at revelation), that it offers "…a smattering of international folk tales from various countries and cultures that will help to encourage multicultural understanding and tolerance." There was that word and somehow it looked odd and misshapen in reference to the past couple weeks. After looking it up, I reflected on its usage throughout several written sources and determined that when hate crimes are at an all time high, passive-aggressive discrimination is even more rampant and a general lack of awareness of other ethnic communities is overwhelming the word appears rather flaccid. As was the case with many sources I reviewed, my usage of the term was a sort of pat, self-appeasing one that didn't require effort on my part.

So what can be done to go beyond tolerance as professionals in the field of culture and community? As is the case with putting any concept into practice it begins with knowledge. Awareness of the world and of the words we use. For starters we need to recognize and share with others that the Arabic community is as diverse in its cultures as Europe. As one Arabic woman mentioned to me the other day, many well-intentioned individuals constantly ask her what her opinions of the war are and whether or not she has family in Iraq. This woman is an American by birth and Egyptian by descent, but such attitudes are common from those who want to express sympathies for discrimination, but are unsure who to express sympathies to. As she explained, and I have heard similar expressions from other members of the Arab - American community, she doesn't mind being asked to voice an opinion on the war (she writes on that subject regularly) but don't presume her nationality. I wouldn't have known her nationality myself if I hadn't asked.

Furthermore, as a writer, I am astutely aware of the word choices I make and similarly understand that the same goes for storytellers, as well. When we use words like "tolerance" we should get in the habit of expressing what those words mean. In other words, explain the definition in reference to the word or in conjunction with it, redundancy be damned, redundancy be damned

This will help refresh a word that we have become so inundated with we are numb to its meaning. My press release for example now reads, "Quick Trip offers a smattering of international folk tales from various countries and cultures that will help to facilitate and encourage multicultural understanding, exploration and appreciation." This is far closer to my implied meaning than the ad nauseum coinage of "tolerance."

Finally, on the flip side of the verbiage coin, maintain your own convictions that generalizations, jokes and passive-aggressive comments will not be tolerated. This can easily be incorporated into everyday conversation, as well as, into a teller's set. It can be addressed as the introduction to a story on this theme, any from another culture or a story of peace. Peace truly begins at home by putting into practice the concept behind "tolerance" and illuminating its true meaning with a tale.

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