Neighbor. We hear this word and a variety of things pop up in our minds. It could be the next-door lady that comes over to borrow eggs. For some, it is a remembrance of friends that you grew up with and whose company you enjoyed. For others, it’s sitting on a porch with a nice glass of lemonade and having conversation that is reflective of the past days. For some it’s “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Mr. Rogers was always one to remind his viewers about kindness while providing a healthy understanding of what it meant to get to know people.
People. Wow. They do exist, don’t they? We sometimes forget they do. Our world currently faces a multitude of calamities. Sickness, poverty, war, famine, racism, hate and power struggles are a few of the issues we have yet to either understand or deal with properly. We have plenty of campaigns to help raise money for sicknesses, while hosting a plethora of races to do the same. Yet, the root of all this, the piece that we’re missing, are the very people we are trying to serve.
Our society is a busy one, and for us, taking even one hour for someone else is exhausting and overbearing. It’s almost tiring even to do this with our families. We know the news reports, the issues in our neighborhoods and those around us. Yet, the best finger lifting we could offer is one that doesn’t require us to be very active. We are a society guilty of turning a blind eye, to our neighbors and families. With that, it gets worse. We have a tendency to stick with the motto “out of sight, out of mind.” Yet, these problems in our world deal with people, and if you ignore issues, you see that you are ignoring the very people they are affecting.
Some of this is a fear to understand, while some of it is a laziness to understand. Either way, people don’t come to the house anymore to ask for eggs. It’s no longer comfortable to do, and at the end of the day, our circle-of-friends are just fine with us. What am I talking about? I guess you can say it’s about society being bettered. But mostly it’s about being a better neighbor. Let’s take two issues and look at them in depth, while figuring out how we can break down walls associated with these two issues.
Race
Racism is a huge deal in our world today. Part of this is due to a child’s upbringing in the home. A child’s frame of mind is contingent upon their upbringing. For example, a child that has grown up being encouraged to stay away from “those people” now becomes an adult thinking the worst about “those people” and how what they want nothing to do with them. This adult teaches their child the same thing. Therefore racism begins and continues. When people are put into a silo of thoughts the mind becomes limited and what they know is what they stand by, instead of branching out and aiming to understand.
For older adults who grew up in the thick of racism, the changes our world is slowly having in regards to diversity can be a tough thing for them to see. With millennials however, this new root of diversity is shifting the culture to a better understanding of the beauty of culture, seeing and enjoying people’s race as something extraordinary and not as an intrusion on one’s personal space. In fact, studies show that a neighborhood that is racially diverse succeeds more than a neighborhood with only one particular race governing the neighborhood. Why? These children are able to grow up with a diverse group of neighbors and are able to learn many different things from each family. This study reflects our current need, and it will take practical steps of us getting out of our shell, no matter what we have been taught. It will take us being a neighbor. A neighbor that sees meeting “those people” next door as an opportunity to grow and share. Millennials in our society, compared to “Baby Boomers” or “Generation X” are way more prompt to take that step faster. I pray we all would.
Status
Most of us see the homeless man on the street and instantly assume the worst. Yet, we do not know where he has been or what has happened in his life. When it comes to being neighbors with those of ” lower estate” than ourselves, we would rather stick with giving out donations to the shelter where he or she may sleep, than to take time to actually engage in conversation with him/her. Social and economic status can either be a pleasure or a poison for most. A rapper by the name of Sho Baraka mentioned on his song “Madoff” that the “rich man lies and he rises” while the “poor man lies and he dies.” I believe this to be true here in America, and more than likely in other countries too. While lying is never truly beneficial in the end, this song is just an echo of what we as a people care to display more … success.
America lives on success. Its foundations are built on hardworking members of society, only for “those people” to be forgotten and those with more money, or the socially popular to be placed in the limelight. Millennials are very easily influenced by the movie stars, actors, and wealthy of our day. And while there are many who aim to impact the world, millennials are given a narrow view of what that looks like. So, flashy things, shiny cars, etc. are the goal. Of course then you’d walk by the homeless veteran who gave his life for the country. In fact, you wouldn’t know he was a veteran, but would instead consider him just another speck in our “American Dream.” So we ignore him. Yet, they matter too. The homeless, mentally ill, poverty stricken, unpopular people of our society today are just as important as those of us who consider ourselves to be the cream of the crop.
People are more important than most of the things we chase after. Our society is slipping little by little. It’s like a flat tire that never gets repaired. It needs to be, but isn’t, mostly because we would rather wash the car and make it look attractive. Our world needs vision correction and millennials today may face the blunt end if not provided with an understanding that we have neighbors everywhere and that they matter. There are plenty of barriers that need to be broken down and the only way that will happen is for us to knock on our neighbor’s door and say “hello.”
• Macklyn Mosley is the founder of the Neighborhood Movement, a Movement geared to helping people grow and understand one another better. He is passionate about community engagement and communications.
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