Write Your Story: Isabel Wilkerson
Presented by the Leopold Writing Program in partnership with the Santa Fe International Literary Festival.
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“We are responsible for our own ignorance or, with time and openhearted enlightenment, our own wisdom.”
― Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents When have you realized you were “choosing ignorance” about something important? What changed your perspective?
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When have you realized you were “choosing ignorance” about something important? What changed your perspective?
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My family was driven from Canada for religious reasons. They settled in the very Deep South, the bayous of Louisiana. My grandmother opened a small restaurant, with a black staff. I also worked the kitchen with them. I thought the staff was always happy, singing and joking with each other. When I left the small town and realized from Jesuit instruction than the world was not as it seemed . It was only after I left the small town, thru education that I understood what was really happening. I am still haunted.
- Paul Ordogne Recently, I realized I had been choosing ignorance about burnout. I wore “constantly overwhelmed” like a badge of honor and convinced myself it was just the price of being dependable and productive. Turns out, running exclusively on caffeine, stress, and sheer willpower is not actually a personality trait. Eventually, I noticed it was affecting my patience, decision making, and overall quality of work. What changed my perspective was realizing I performed far better when I set boundaries, communicated openly, and stopped treating exhaustion like an achievement. I’ve also historically avoided difficult conversations because I told myself “keeping the peace” was the mature thing to do. In reality, it usually just delayed the inevitable while making everyone quietly uncomfortable. As I became more confident, I started communicating more honestly and directly, and my relationships and teamwork improved significantly because of it. Interestingly, a few people disappeared once I stopped minimizing myself to make others comfortable. That ended up being less of a loss and more of an efficient filtering system.
- Sandy Morello |
Anytime I perceived someone as “other” and called them out, rather than call them in! My perspective changed when an unhoused person with a severe mental illness told me her story and I realized we are all one!
- Meryl Lieberman I help kids low income first gen access college and for years had a bias in favor of getting them to go away to to one of the country’s most selective schools. It took me a while, learning through kids and families, that staying near home with family can be exactly the right choice for a host of reasons, including a realization that some of those places can be very isolating and alienating for kids from very different backgrounds. I still want to claim those selective college spots for kids who are interested, since they give a lot of scholarships and because those kids deserve to claim that space. But is sure isn’t the only measure of success.
- Peggy Jenkins It’s all important; the environment, food safety, racism, classism, gender biases, the fucking patriarchy, old catchy take over of the planet, species extinction, human trafficking; I’m overwhelmed by the scope of pressing issues. So I donate and donate and Donte. And cry.
- Anonymous When I voted for Trump because I could not stand Hillary. I I realized that was a horrible choice shortly after he was elected!
- Mary Jean |
