In Texas, a lawmaker wants the University of Texas not to treat an Asian-American fraternity the same way other fraternities on campus have been treated when accused of hazing. He thinks it might offend the Asian community. Never mind the alcohol-related death of a freshman fraternity member. Instead of suspending the fraternity in compliance with university law, this “lawmaker” wants the school just to give them probation, community service or alcohol abuse training.
Is this about tolerance? No. This man is offended by truth. The truth is that Asian-American students break the law just as white students do. This man does not want to admit that truth to the community. He would rather offend white fraternities by treating them more harshly than he treats Asian-American fraternities.
Character is never offended by truth. Character embraces truth.
Several years ago, just before I co-founded Character-in-Action.com, I spent three years in New Zealand as school principal – and as part of a minority group: U.S. citizens.
I had not been there long when one of my new Kiwi friends stated that Americans are adolescent. My national pride was sharply wounded, but I said nothing. Instead, I began to think about it. Was it true? If it was, I had no reason to be offended. I thought the person who said that might be one in a million – or in three million, since that was the population of New Zealand. But it wasn’t long before I was told the same by another Kiwi – and then another.
Obviously, United States citizens had earned a reputation for adolescent behavior, and I wondered why. I began to watch American television through the eyes of New Zealanders, and to see things I never noticed before. I saw how we constantly rebel against the rules – just like adolescents. I noticed that television commercials, game shows, and much else in USA TV programming relied on bathroom humor – an adolescent appeal. I realized that a vast number of Americans live to eat, sleep, and play – just as adolescents do. We go to work, but view it as a nasty necessity to get more toys or more leisure time for play. I saw us insisting that others do things our way – or we’d take our toys and go home. I saw our nation, as a whole, marked more by crass individualism than by a sense of community. The more I looked, the more I understood the Kiwi assessment. My fellow citizens were, too often, adolescent in behavior.
I could have rejected the truth. I could have been offended, and demand that the people of New Zealand be more understanding – more tolerant. I might have suggested that they take some type of diversity training that would teach them not to offend the sensitivities of the American minority. If I thought about it long enough, and hated them for it, I might have been able to muster a demonstration by all Americans on the islands.
But I embraced the evaluation. I decided that, whatever the case with fellow-Americans, I would be sure my behavior was not adolescent. I decided to use the truth to move my behavior to a more mature level.
What if we all decided to do that? What if all the groups in our nation that are perpetually offended by this, that, or the other, decided to embrace truth and become mature? That would take character, wouldn’t it? Because character keeps us from being offended by truth.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?