Gatekeepers

We’re in the middle of a discussion about “gatekeeping” — the process of the folk on the front lines who have to enforce institutional policies that hurt a community. It just occurred to me that a great way of thinking about this issue might be to use a clip from The Incredibles (due out on DVD soon), because it’s the firing of a gatekeeper that is the precipitating element of the movie. And one of the movie’s story threads, about finding ways to work together, to be “super heroes” in concert with each other by drawing on each other’s unique gifts, is a pretty powerful message. Granted, this movie is by no means an anti-racist teaching story, but it does have elements we can build on.