God created all humans with a desire to belong. Humans desire to fit into a group to satisfy this fundamental need for connection.
When America began, we understood that our ancestors relied on group cooperation for survival, protection, resources, and social support.
We have a psychological need for grouping, which fosters a sense of security, reduces feelings of isolation, and contributes to positive self-esteem. For its conception, belonging is a good thing intended to unify and benefit each other.
Well, somewhere along the way, we learned bias. We started dividing ourselves by our differences. Then, without empirical data, someone said one race was better than another. Hate began to infiltrate our ranks. You see, part of being a member of a group and reaping the benefits thereof, we begin to feel obligated to the group, and this leads to conformity — this is a part of the belonging curse.
Conformity means that if my group goes left, I don’t want to leave the group because of the benefits, so I will just stay silent.
Imagine benefitting as an active part of the group, and then the leaders of the group decide the want to start discrimination practices. Conformity makes you not leave the group, but you now have a choice. You could stay silent and do nothing, but you would be just as guilty as the perpetrators. Or, you could speak out — truth to power — and let the leaders know how wrong they are.
We have many silent partners in groups today. They have benefitted from a certain privilege and feel guilty over their horrendous past. There are some that have the audacity to say it wasn’t me. No, it wasn’t, but it was the group you benefit from.
Our president recently signed an executive order to allow businesses to discriminate. Belonging still gives us a choice. What are you doing with yours?
ClydeStyle 