The Center for Ethical Leadership has long believed we need to connect with each other across boundaries and to be responsible to one another. We often focus on issues of disparity and inequity because it is essential to identify them in order to advance the common good. This newsletter highlights the tension between charity and justice, describes our recent work in using the powerful circles process to foster healing in community, and introduces our newest affiliate staff member, Saroeum Phoung. ~ Dale Nienow
Charity or Justice. Which Will Guide our Life Together?
In this intense political season, personal attacks have become a staple of US politics. But beyond the attack ads, there are two primary viewpoints – one telling people to take responsibility for their own lives and another encouraging people to take care of each other. Both seem to be good ideas – taking care of each other and taking care of ourselves, but these positions are presented as diametrically opposed. Why should we have to choose between these ideas?
Since the founding of our country, US citizens have dealt with this tension. The very first paragraph of the US Constitution lays out the case for promoting “the general welfare” and highlights “the blessings of liberty.” This opening statement lays out a number of valuable aspirations, but does not tell us how to resolve the tension between them.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
What sense do “we the people” make of our role in promoting the general welfare? How can we reconcile the difference in choice between spending on the common defense or spending to promote the general welfare of Americans? Should programs intended to promote the general welfare be characterized as impeding the blessings of liberty and making personal choices? Does promoting the general welfare imply a duty to those less fortunate, in order to insure domestic tranquility?
Taking care of self is an important element in our lives as it can shape positive identity and support people in choosing their own path in life. But what do we do when someone is struggling? Some suggest charity given from personal generosity is the answer. It has a role, but there is a challenge with making charity the foundation of our social contract. Sometimes people struggle because the systems and structures we created in the society have excluded them or treated them unfairly. Should we rely on charity to make up for unfairness? What does the “establish justice” clause of the Constitution tell us in this situation?
Jonathan Kozol, a long time critique of unequal schools, recently gave a talk saying, “Charity is not a substitute for justice.” Charity is too fickle. It can leave too many people out. It is not an answer for injustice. We need to build into our social contract basic justice so that opportunities can be shared broadly, not reserved for a few. When we seek to establish justice, it gives us an elegant way to honor the multiple aspirations in our Constitution. We can take care of each other by ensuring access to opportunities that allow people to take care of themselves.
In this intense political season, personal attacks have become a staple of US politics. But beyond the attack ads, there are two primary viewpoints – one telling people to take responsibility for their own lives and another encouraging people to take care of each other. Both seem to be good ideas – taking care of each other and taking care of ourselves, but these positions are presented as diametrically opposed. Why should we have to choose between these ideas?
Since the founding of our country, US citizens have dealt with this tension. The very first paragraph of the US Constitution lays out the case for promoting “the general welfare” and highlights “the blessings of liberty.” This opening statement lays out a number of valuable aspirations, but does not tell us how to resolve the tension between them.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
What sense do “we the people” make of our role in promoting the general welfare? How can we reconcile the difference in choice between spending on the common defense or spending to promote the general welfare of Americans? Should programs intended to promote the general welfare be characterized as impeding the blessings of liberty and making personal choices? Does promoting the general welfare imply a duty to those less fortunate, in order to insure domestic tranquility?
Taking care of self is an important element in our lives as it can shape positive identity and support people in choosing their own path in life. But what do we do when someone is struggling? Some suggest charity given from personal generosity is the answer. It has a role, but there is a challenge with making charity the foundation of our social contract. Sometimes people struggle because the systems and structures we created in the society have excluded them or treated them unfairly. Should we rely on charity to make up for unfairness? What does the “establish justice” clause of the Constitution tell us in this situation?
Jonathan Kozol, a long time critique of unequal schools, recently gave a talk saying, “Charity is not a substitute for justice.” Charity is too fickle. It can leave too many people out. It is not an answer for injustice. We need to build into our social contract basic justice so that opportunities can be shared broadly, not reserved for a few. When we seek to establish justice, it gives us an elegant way to honor the multiple aspirations in our Constitution. We can take care of each other by ensuring access to opportunities that allow people to take care of themselves.
Community Healing – the Power of Circles
The US has not moved into the “post-racial society” some have suggested arrived when Obama was elected President. Race continues to be an excuse to treat people differently. Our institutions and systems such as education, banking, and health continue to produce unequal access and opportunity for people of color. There are numerous worthy efforts to undo the institutional structures that keep inequities in place, but there is also a need to build deeper relationships across race. When relationships are nurtured, healing and renewal can take place and people can talk honestly about the work needed to build a more just and equitable society. Through the Community Learning Exchange network, the Center has promoted healing through peacemaking circles, providing a process and container for cultivating trusting relationships to bridge community divides. This summer, the Center hosted racial-healing circles to build deep relationships, promote healing, and reshape the way we engage each other in this region. Center affiliate Saroeum Phoung led two three-day circles in July and September.
We have remarkably few places in our society to cultivate deep relationships across race where we can talk about our experiences and work together on promoting greater equity. And we are so accustomed to doing things quickly that we seldom invest the time needed to address our most important issues. Circles process can provide both a container for holding the relationship building and windows of time that allow us to open up to the important conversations about equity. This method creates a sacred space that lifts the barriers between people, opening up fresh possibilities for connection, collaboration, and mutual understanding.
The circles process invited people to shift from trying to fix each other to working on one’s own issues. Participants had to unlearn the dialogue model of interaction to listen to deeply to others. This had a powerful effect on the group, and one participant shared, “Each story touched a part of me that helped me heal and feel whole.” The process helped individuals with their own work and created the opportunity for the group to learn and work together. The racial-healing circles provided the time for building trust and gave everyone a chance to share their story and perspective regardless of rank, position, or power. They provided a way for people to deal with the struggles they experienced.
What does the Center hope to achieve with healing and peacemaking circles? Our hope is to build deeper relationships across race. We want to equip people in our region with the ability to change the way people engage in schools, work places, and the community. We hope to be an incubator, helping people work together to create a community where difference no longer equals deficit.
The US has not moved into the “post-racial society” some have suggested arrived when Obama was elected President. Race continues to be an excuse to treat people differently. Our institutions and systems such as education, banking, and health continue to produce unequal access and opportunity for people of color. There are numerous worthy efforts to undo the institutional structures that keep inequities in place, but there is also a need to build deeper relationships across race. When relationships are nurtured, healing and renewal can take place and people can talk honestly about the work needed to build a more just and equitable society. Through the Community Learning Exchange network, the Center has promoted healing through peacemaking circles, providing a process and container for cultivating trusting relationships to bridge community divides. This summer, the Center hosted racial-healing circles to build deep relationships, promote healing, and reshape the way we engage each other in this region. Center affiliate Saroeum Phoung led two three-day circles in July and September.
We have remarkably few places in our society to cultivate deep relationships across race where we can talk about our experiences and work together on promoting greater equity. And we are so accustomed to doing things quickly that we seldom invest the time needed to address our most important issues. Circles process can provide both a container for holding the relationship building and windows of time that allow us to open up to the important conversations about equity. This method creates a sacred space that lifts the barriers between people, opening up fresh possibilities for connection, collaboration, and mutual understanding.
The circles process invited people to shift from trying to fix each other to working on one’s own issues. Participants had to unlearn the dialogue model of interaction to listen to deeply to others. This had a powerful effect on the group, and one participant shared, “Each story touched a part of me that helped me heal and feel whole.” The process helped individuals with their own work and created the opportunity for the group to learn and work together. The racial-healing circles provided the time for building trust and gave everyone a chance to share their story and perspective regardless of rank, position, or power. They provided a way for people to deal with the struggles they experienced.
What does the Center hope to achieve with healing and peacemaking circles? Our hope is to build deeper relationships across race. We want to equip people in our region with the ability to change the way people engage in schools, work places, and the community. We hope to be an incubator, helping people work together to create a community where difference no longer equals deficit.
Introducing new Center Affiliate, Saroeum Phoung
Saroeum Phoung is a masterful circle keeper, teacher and spirit leader. He has many years of experience leading circles process to provide healing and transformation for individuals and communities dealing with the challenges of violence, racism, and inequity that are present in many of our communities. Saroeum learned to lead peacemaking circles from the Tagish Tlingit First Nation as a way to share power, include more community voices, and build relationships that foster healing and hope.
Saroeum was born in Cambodia and immigrated to the US during the Pol Pot regime via refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines. Settling in East Boston he faced the all-to-common difficulties of immigrant life - cultural difference, racism, and violence. Through his work with Roca, a community values-led youth serving organization, he experienced personal transformation and became a staff member. Saroeum continues to bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States.
Saroeum Phoung is a masterful circle keeper, teacher and spirit leader. He has many years of experience leading circles process to provide healing and transformation for individuals and communities dealing with the challenges of violence, racism, and inequity that are present in many of our communities. Saroeum learned to lead peacemaking circles from the Tagish Tlingit First Nation as a way to share power, include more community voices, and build relationships that foster healing and hope.
Saroeum was born in Cambodia and immigrated to the US during the Pol Pot regime via refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines. Settling in East Boston he faced the all-to-common difficulties of immigrant life - cultural difference, racism, and violence. Through his work with Roca, a community values-led youth serving organization, he experienced personal transformation and became a staff member. Saroeum continues to bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States.
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