Desmond Tutu

This past Sunday, I went to hear Desmond Tutu speak in Philadelphia. He is known for his leadership as chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the end of apartheid. I was struck by his short stature and a sense of humor with a robust laughter at himself and human foibles.

During his speech he spoke of anecdotal stories of human resilience when times would otherwise weaken one’s spirit to aspire toward goodness. I was struck by the couple of time that chills spread over the surface of my skin with some universal principle he addressed. I guess I was truly mesmerized by this gentle man’s presentation of himself. He later sat down in a chair behind him as if he were in his own living room.

One area that gave me cause to ponder came from an audience member’s question around how to deal with healing the wounds today in the black-white racism that still exist in this country even though those today were not part of the slavery system. His response opened me to what I know and have known but haven’t quite articulated. Descendants of slave owner continue to benefit from the accrual of what happened during slavery and its aftermath. Even those of us “white folk” who are not descendants accrued benefits from slavery. He pointed out that we are still interconnected.

His solution is to ask “What are the ways that I can help?”

This interconnectedness through time and through our expansion from intimate to global social circles to which we belong forms the base for ethical enquiries. I no longer think ethical questions are as easily avoided. We see this though satellite transmission as words, sounds, words, pictures and videos expose us to the broader picture of our small world. Jane