I read this article today about the newly unearthed
recording from 2015 of Michael Bloomberg vigorously supporting stop and frisk
policies, and it gave me pause. Not because it changes my perspective on him as
a candidate. I’m not for him, though I can’t say I’m against him either. That’s
not the point. This post isn’t really about him. What caught my
attention is how difficult we find it to accept that people can change, to
allow room for imperfection.
Based on what I’ve read, and this is referenced in the
article I mentioned, Bloomberg issued an apology for his past policies before he
even entered the presidential race. We can question the depth and sincerity of
this apology in light of his preparation to join the race to become president,
and that could be a legitimate conversation. I am concerned though that we don’t
allow space for these conversations, particularly within the progressive
community. We seem to have great difficulty accepting and believing that people
can change, and that they sometimes say and do things we don’t like, that may
seem unenlightened or go against our values. And by denying that possibility,
or seriously questioning it, we end up losing good leaders. We effectively hurt
ourselves and our causes because we demand perfection of everyone who steps
into leadership. And perfection is impossible. No individual, political
candidate or otherwise, has an unblemished past. I fear that we sacrifice the
good in our demand for the perfect.
I think of my own life. If I were judged by the life I lived
prior to my public transition, I’m quite sure I would be excluded from many
circles. I lived in the world as a conservative white evangelical Christian male
and as such I supported things that now I would absolutely eschew. Am I to be
judged by who I was, or by who I am? More accurately, by who I am becoming,
because even now I am imperfect. I am flawed. I make mistakes. I say things
without thinking them through. And I probably hold views that don’t meet
someone’s litmus test of “wokeness.” Does that exclude me from contributing to
positive change in this world?
I come, as mentioned, from a background in conservative evangelical
American Christianity. That subculture has a great fondness for “Statements of
Faith” – lists of what a particular group believes, to which one must express adherence
in order to belong to that group. That world existed in black and white, and
there was precious little room for grey. When I left that culture I didn’t
expect to find myself back in a world that likes to paint everything in black and
white. Yet I too often encounter this in the progressive circles I now run in.
These circles have their own statements of faith, though they are often
unwritten and the only way to know what they contain is when you violate one of
the tenets, at which point you will be excoriated (called out) for your lack of
awareness and shamed for your ignorance. I dare say I experienced more grace in
those conservative evangelical circles than I have often seen demonstrated in
progressive groups.
We live in a messy, imperfect world. Things are rarely black
and white. Issues are rarely as simple as we like to portray them. People make
mistakes. Sometimes they change. Our pasts alone do not dictate who we are. If
we don’t allow room for imperfection and growth, we will lose too many good
people. I’m not saying that we don’t hold people accountable for what they have
said and done. I am saying that we have to recognize that people, and issues,
are far too complex to reduce them to black and white, right or wrong, good or bad.
I’m grateful that my friends have given me the chance to become someone
different. I’m grateful that they allow me room to continue to grow and learn,
to make mistakes and to be messy and imperfect. I cannot be anything but. Can
we allow that of others?
