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In this June 3, 2018 photo provided by Corey Rich, Alex Honnold, top and Tommy Caldwell climb The Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.
Photo: Corey Rich / Associated PressIn this June 3, 2018 photo provided by Corey Rich, Alex Honnold, top and Tommy Caldwell climb The Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.
In this June 3, 2018 photo provided by Corey Rich, Alex Honnold, top and Tommy Caldwell climb The Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.
In this June 3, 2018 photo provided by Corey Rich, Alex Honnold, top and Tommy Caldwell climb The Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.
Scientists and experts all agree that the human body is capable of many things, and not capable of many others. Humans were believed not to be capable of was running a mile in less than four minutes. It had never been done because it could never be done. That is, until May 6, 1954 when British runner Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3:59.4 on the Iffley Road Track at Oxford University. Since that day 1,497 athletes have done the “impossible.”
El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park is an imposing natural rock with an incredible 3,000 foot vertical rise straight up. It is 21/2 times the height of the Empire State Building. Once considered insurmountable, even thinking about solo free climbing (climbing with no ropes, equipment, or help) was considered suicidal. That is, until it was done and then again, in 2017 climbed in less than three hours. Finally, on June 6, 2018, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell both climbed to the top in an almost miraculous 1:58.7, less than two hours.
These accomplishments rank with the more famous human accomplishments such as landing on the moon or reaching the deepest part bottom of the ocean because they did not depend on equipment, technology, large support teams, or huge funding. They happened because individuals believed they could happen, and took it upon themselves to make them happen. Belief. Dedication. Sacrifice. Hard work. Accomplishment. Change.
These changes happened because individuals took initiative and accepted risk to accomplish the “impossible,” with their belief for change coming from the inside out. This is the key ingredient that appears missing from efforts to eradicate systemic racism.
Elected officials have been looking in the wrong places to find the solution to racism. They see it as a matter of better policies, laws, and public agendas. Change does not happen because a new law is enacted or government policy is articulated. It does not start with commissions, task forces, or committees. Change happens when people demand the change first and new laws and policies follow to support it. Prohibition is an excellent example of this. Prohibition started in 1920 with ratification of the 18th Amendment, making it illegal to import, manufacture, transport, or sell alcoholic beverages. This did not stop Americans from drinking alcohol. It simply made it illegal and fueled the rise of American organized crime. The public at large saw no value in not drinking, so they still did. Even more so, the Roaring Twenties happened in spite of Prohibition. Public sentiment was finally recognized with the ratification of the 21st Amendment 13 years later on Dec. 5, 1933, ending Prohibition. While it was in effect, Prohibition did not change human behavior at all.
Woman’s Suffrage is another example. Movement toward voting rights for women began on an organized scale in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, where the first Women’s Rights Convention was held. At that convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton developed a “Declaration of Sentiments,” establishing the template used for women’s rights activism. The Declaration was based on recognizing the value and rights of women, and took until August 26, 1920, 72 years later, for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. Women’s rights were not publicly accepted because the 19 Amendment was ratified any more than the public stopped drinking during Prohibition. The 19th Amendment was passed because attitudes and beliefs of enough people had finally changed, motivating legal action and changing the system.
Laws do not create change. People’s behavior does. John Adams wrote in June, 1819, “Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States.” Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. The Civil Rights Acts of 1866 (followed by 14th Amendment in 1868), 1868, 1871, 1875, and 1964 have all attempted to lay the legal foundation for equal rights, treatment and status under the law. But did human behavior change? No. Why not?
An individual’s belief in the outcome from a change will define for them the value of that change. Value leads to recognition of the need for the change. Once the need is established in an individual’s mind, solutions are sought, remedies identified, comparisons made, decisions articulated, and actions taken. Actions by one or a few can lead to large societal movements. It is from these movements that change occurs. This is the pattern of change in human behavior.
If the value of the change is not recognized, this cycle of change is not ignited. It’s not about law, politics, economics, or history. It’s about psychology-until our internal mindset changes, nothing changes. Change happens individually, one person at a time, from the inside out. It can’t be legislated. It can’t be mandated. Its need must be recognized and accepted. Every successful marketing executive understands this. Not enough elected officials do.
Kevin McEvoy, PhD, teaches consumer behavior at the University of Connecticut-Stamford. He is a multiple award-winning faculty member in marketing, and was named a teaching scholar by UConn’s Institute of Teaching and Learning in 2010.
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Opinion: An CT expert in consumer behavior explores the challenges in quelling racism - The Advocate
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