Tutu the Teacher

Last week, Archbishop Desmond Tutu retired at the age of 79. As a teacher, his students spanned the globe. One of the most important lessons I learned from him has to do with our hidden biases, and the subtle ways in which we are conditioned to think and feel. He recounted how he boarded a plane, looked in the cockpit, and saw that all of the people at the controls were black. After the plane took off and encountered some severe weather, he said to himself, “I really am bothered that there’s no white man in the cockpit. Can these blacks manage to navigate us out of this horrible experience?
Tutu continued, “It was all involuntary and spontaneous. I would never have believed that I had in fact been so radically brainwashed. I would have denied it vigorously because I prided myself on being an exponent of black consciousness, but in a crisis something deeper emerged.”
“I had accepted a white definition of existence, that whites were somehow superior to and more competent than blacks. Of course those black pilots were able to land the plane quite competently.” (source: No Future Without Forgiveness)
But his lesson did not end there. He went on to discuss how this made him more understanding of other people’s biases and shortcomings. By acknowledging the universality of prejudice such as this, we open the doors for communication and change.
Thank you Archbishop Tutu for your honesty, your humility, and your generosity . As one of your millions of students, you have taught me a great deal about myself as well as your other students throughout the world.