The Right-Handed Game
An Allegory for a Racially Tilted America
There was once a town with a sport played by right-handed men, a sport with a long history and many revered athletes, a sport that was rich with tradition and stories of glory. There was a problem though — the rules of the sport had been written to favor the right-handed. In fact — the sport was difficult, some might say it impossible to play if you were left-handed.
As time moved on, left-handed men wanted to join the sport, to be part of the tradition and the comradery. Some suggested changing the rules to allow for no advantage to left-handed or right-handed men. This was not acceptable to the right-handed originators of the game. “If you want to play, you’ll need to learn to play with your right” they would say.
Some erstwhile left-handers worked hard to learn to play with their right hand. They did well and even rose high in the rank of play. Many of the right-handers congratulated them on working so hard to learn to use their right hand. Others were jealous. One thing was certain. Whenever the topic of changing the rules to allow for left-handed players came up, these lefties would be held up as the example for all left-handers to follow. “See — look at them, they did it, and you can too — there is no need to change the rules!” And so, the game went on.
Eventually, the game became so popular that the residents of the town got together and voted that all people in the town had to play the game, or they would be levied an additional tax and could be targeted for removal from the town by various means.
Sporting academies were set up and children were required to attend so that all could learn to play the right-handed sport. Certainly, some did, but other left-handers did not see the point and would only learn half-heartedly — a few avoided the academy all-together.
Academy drop-outs were noted in the public records and life became very difficult for them. Local police were taught how to tell whether a car was driven by a left-hander and were encouraged to stop left-hander cars. Bankers and especially mortgage brokers in the town were taught how to spot a left-hander when they applied for financing and interest rates were inflated and sometimes loans were even rejected altogether.
Even employers paid out wages and bonuses based on how well an individual could play with their right hand with traditional right-handers receiving the highest pay, left to right-handed converts earned about 15% less, and those who refused to become right-handed were often not even able to get jobs.
Neighborhoods even formed and whole areas of the town were devoted to either right-handers or left-handers.
This led to spiraling conditions for many left-handers. Things were harder and more expensive for them, they were targeted in traffic stops and often fined, but because they had a hard time finding jobs, those fines often turned into felonies, and felonies turned into stints in the local jail-house where they met other left-handers who had suffered similar mistreatments.
Some wrote letters, others lobbied for changes to the town by-laws, but the answer was always the same — “Look at So-and-So. He is a former left-hander who has learned to play the right-hand game very well. If he can do it, so can you. There is no need for the rules of the game to change — just learn to use your right hand!”
Eventually, things got so bad, that left-handers who were stopped began to be beaten, and sometimes even killed. In fact, studies showed that left-handers in this particular town were killed at a rate 10 times higher than other similar towns with the same number of left-handers.
Some of the left-handers who had learned to play with their right hand decided something had to be done. They began to kneel in prayer and protest at the beginning of the right-handed games to remember their left-handed friends and call attention to their plight.
Many of them lost their jobs and were instructed that they would suffer consequences if they kept on kneeling. Some persisted and did lose their jobs. Others persisted and were eventually ignored. The beatings and killings continued.
The left-handers and the left-handers that have converted to playing with their right hand have hired you to represent them. They are asking you to help them solve this problem in their town.
What will you tell them?
How can they solve this problem?
Is this their problem or is it a problem created by the right-handed players?
Will the game really be damaged if the rules are changed to accommodate left-handed players?
Before you answer these questions — it is essential that you examine closely your own prejudice. Representing someone is best done when you know yourself and are able to honestly own and acknowledge your own biases.
If you are right-handed and reading this, it would be important for you to start by acknowledging that you are biased toward the right-handed players. Anything less would be self-deception. But to really represent the left-handed players, you would have to go beyond simple acknowledgment and come to understand the reach of your bias while also immersing yourself in the position of the left-hander until even the left-hander says you are seeing it through their eyes.
Biased — Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes what we See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L Eberhardt is a good place to start on your journey.
