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The novel details the antics of the Finch children, Jem, and his nine-year-old sister, Jean Louise, whom is nicknamed Scout. At the story’s end, a mentally challenged neighbor saves young Scout and her brother from being murdered by the alleged victim’s father. Scout has walked her protector home, and as she turns from his front door to return home, she stands at the top of his rickety steps and peers out on the neighborhood. She realizes that her protector could see every neighbor’s house from his own; he could watch Scout and Jem playing in their yard; and, in fact, he had a view of every happening in the neighborhood. Amazed with this sudden recognition, Scout says, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” The Book of Psalms, 8:2, reads: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast those ordained strength, because of thine enemies; that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” From the words of young Scout, we are taught a lesson that is applicable to the theme for this magazine’s issue: Leadership, Values, and Change. If each of us would take but a minute to step into the shoes of someone unlike ourselves – disabled, gay, another race or gender, elderly or young, or different culture – then perhaps, we could see through her or his eyes and better understand a different view of the world. It is difficult to comprehend how individuals feel until we are placed in the same or similar situations. This is an exercise that can serve to increase and enhance the appreciation of differences. One person can do much. You are responsible for your attitudes, values, and beliefs held toward others. You are also responsible for change. Diversity is valuable! You have an obligation to speak up about discrimination and social injustice.
Larry W. Lunsford, Ph.D.
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My favorite book and movie are one and the same: To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The 1960 novel is set in the 1930s in a small Alabama town where racial prejudice and social injustice were at their height in what would become known as the “Heart of Dixie.” A black man, falsely accused of raping a white woman, was on trial, and a white attorney, Atticus Finch, braved the wrath of the townspeople to defend him.
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