The Fallen Biker
an article by Adria

I was recently driving home from work, and slowed down at the sight of a man lying in the road. It appeared that a truck had hit him, as there was one behind him in the opposing line of traffic. As the driver didn't bother getting out of his truck, I inferred that, as I had, he had found the biker already lying in the middle of the road. Injured, the man stumbled to the side of the road, his wobbling knees barely able to hold up his shaking body.

I was just around the corner from my house, so I drove my car into the parking lot then rushed back to see if the man needed assistance. The long line of luxury vehicles driven by white men and women had formed behind me earlier, but had disappeared, and not a single one of them had stopped. It was apparent that these people were reluctant to help a large black man, in spite of his obvious injuries. People can still fall into the psychological trap of believing that it is not their duty to offer help, and must make a conscious decision to go against that attitude.

Though in pain, the biker was reluctant to receive help, and had a hard time believing that an apparently white, female college student at an expensive university would stop to help a local black man. He kept on reminding me that he was not a college student, as I tried to convince him that his being human was enough to concern me. However, he assured me that he would be okay and refused my offer of a phone call. Still surprised by my offer to help, he took my hand, still shaking, and thanked me for stopping, and for caring, then limped away with his bicycle.

DISCUSSION

Question(s) related to this article:

Promoting a culture of peace on a daily basis
Can conscious decisions to do this really make a difference?

As a reader, you are invited to join in the discussion of this article based on any of the above question(s): just click on the question, read the previous comments and add a new reply. You may also enter a new discussion topic on this article - see bottom of this page.

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CULTURE OF PEACE IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Latest reader comment:

As PhD student in a Faculty of Education in Brazil, I found very important the discussion on the contribution of education to a peaceful world.

I think peace curriculum is possible since there is respect for cultural diversity, such as ethnical, religious, race, sex, gender and others in school's curricular and pedagogical practices as a means of building/developing values of tolerance and respect. There should be space in curriculum for students's voices, experiences and contributions. This way they will feel respectable and will also learn to respect the others.

Education may contribute a lot since it may help children and youth to become sensitive toward the importance of promoting peace among individuals, groups and nations.

This report was posted on June 6, 2002. The moderator is Robin.

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