Bill Wilson saw that sobriety could not stop at not drinking.
A man can put down the bottle and still be ruled by fear, resentment, control, approval-seeking, and emotional demand.
That is why emotional sobriety mattered.
the problem is not merely the addiction.
The problem is the what Thomas Merton called the false self.
And the false self can survive even inside “spirituality.”
It can say “Higher Power” while still refusing surrender.
It can seek healing while avoiding obedience.
It can pursue peace while remaining curved inward.
The next frontier is not just emotional balance.
It is the death of the self built on fear, control, and illusion.
The true self is not invented.
It is received.
And it becomes real in full unconditional surrender.
To justify slavery, the whites portrayed blacks as subhuman: primitive, stupid, and servile.
To justify segregation, the whites portrayed blacks as morally corrupt: ignorant, predatory, and sinful.
After civil rights, the whites portrayed blacks as evil: drug addicts, gang bangers, and welfare queens.
There has never been a point in our history when we whites have systematically and institutionally valued black lives as we do our own