Dear Kiantha: A lot of work to do before we achieve cross-cultural solidarity

Dear Kiantha,

What is cross-cultural solidarity?

Dear Friend,

Cross-cultural solidarity is likely one of the most difficult social goals humanity has yet to realize for reasons we are still not comfortable discussing.

Earlier this week I was in conversation with a small group of six diverse individuals. Our initial chatter was joyful yet frivolous banter about the week’s happenings. Soon, the tone of the conversation heated the room with both warmth and the fullness of multiple perspectives.

At one point the conversation touched on Los Angeles City Council’s public debacle around four members of the council in a recorded conversation speaking offensively and inappropriately about a young Black child being raised by another member of the council who is white.

What made this story fascinating to me was that the four council members who spoke negatively about the child were from a minority culture that had also been marginalized and impacted by a long history of white supremacy.

How could this happen? How could one marginalized culture further oppress another? What is the barrier that keeps communities of color from genuinely supporting one another? Is cross-cultural solidarity attainable, or is it simply a string of words pointed towards a goal that cannot be actualized?

Historically, dividing communities of color and keeping them at odds with one another has been critical to continuing white supremacy. This has created a hierarchical system of oppression, one in which minority groups reject cross-cultural collaboration and instead fight tooth and nail to climb out of the bottom of the proverbial bucket.

That narrative has been ingrained into communities of color for centuries. The idea of one minority community or culture being better than another translates to closer proximity to whiteness hence, less suffering and more access to resources, opportunities, health and wellness.

The narrative is false. In truth, each culture must heal its own cultural trauma and simultaneously find value in building cross-cultural alliances, including alliances with people who do not identify as persons of color.

As always, we have a lot of work to do. I remain hopeful that we can live in beloved community with one another and our cultural differences. Cross-cultural solidarity being just one modality of the cross-cultural community I dream of.

Soul to soul,

Kiantha

Dear Kiantha can be read Fridays in The Spokesman-Review. To submit a question, please email DearKiantha@gmail.com.