A presidential candidate gives a town hall meeting and during the Q&A session, a black elderly woman expresses concern over police brutality towards black folks, especially young black males. The presidential candidate is an older white man. While expressing her concern, she says thousands of black men are killed every day in this country and asks the presidential candidate what he plans to do about it. This puts the old white guy, as one could imagine, in a tough spot.
I come from a background where race gangs are still the norm and I speak with members of them to this day. Even they think people are weird about race out here.
I devoted an entire chapter of my book to the concepts you describe in the beginning of your article regarding the extended societal effects of promoting and/or believing wildly inaccurate statistics, especially with regards to police brutality. You paint a perfect picture of the conundrum experienced by trying to decide the benefits vs. the fallout of simply calling out those inaccuracies.
Unfortunately, the discomfort of confronting such hyperbole probably doesn't hold a candle to the damage created by such extreme differences in perception vs. reality. Misperceptions lead to misplaced feelings and misdirected anger, which would be righteous if the perceptions were accurate but are dangerous when they're not. This feeds conflict, and the collateral damage is incalculable. Well done. ZL
I think the intersectionality theory plays a huge part. It allows for a scorecard for being a victim instead of all the achievements. This, in turn, creates a system where victimhood becomes an industry. If there is a downside to capitalism, is that it chases money. Victimhood can be profitable for those pulling the strings.
I like Vivek because he doesn't seem to fall into that trap of saying nothing when confronted with hyperbole. Perhaps because he is of Indian descent and a practicing Hindu he is freed from the "oppressor/oppressed" narrative. He is also young enough that he would have been fully exposed to the Neo-Marxist and Post-Modernist rhetoric and knows how to respond.
I was stuck in victimhood for a very long time, longer than I’d like to admit. I was a victim and suffered greatly, don’t get me wrong, but I am also a survivor, a healer, a warrior and a hero. We are all, all of these things, if we choose.
We could easily replace the words “victim” or “victimhood” with the words “immature” and/or “ignorant” and it has the same meaning.
We are all victims of something or someone. And we can stay there as long as we want. But we aren’t learning anything, healing anything or getting any closer to fulfilling our potential when we keep ourselves there.
All of the answers and freedom we seek lies on the other side of victimhood. And we all have the capacity to get to the other side 💪🏻
How The Culture Of Victimhood Stifles Conversation
I come from a background where race gangs are still the norm and I speak with members of them to this day. Even they think people are weird about race out here.
That was fantastic, Judson.
I devoted an entire chapter of my book to the concepts you describe in the beginning of your article regarding the extended societal effects of promoting and/or believing wildly inaccurate statistics, especially with regards to police brutality. You paint a perfect picture of the conundrum experienced by trying to decide the benefits vs. the fallout of simply calling out those inaccuracies.
Unfortunately, the discomfort of confronting such hyperbole probably doesn't hold a candle to the damage created by such extreme differences in perception vs. reality. Misperceptions lead to misplaced feelings and misdirected anger, which would be righteous if the perceptions were accurate but are dangerous when they're not. This feeds conflict, and the collateral damage is incalculable. Well done. ZL
Excellent piece
I think the intersectionality theory plays a huge part. It allows for a scorecard for being a victim instead of all the achievements. This, in turn, creates a system where victimhood becomes an industry. If there is a downside to capitalism, is that it chases money. Victimhood can be profitable for those pulling the strings.
I like Vivek because he doesn't seem to fall into that trap of saying nothing when confronted with hyperbole. Perhaps because he is of Indian descent and a practicing Hindu he is freed from the "oppressor/oppressed" narrative. He is also young enough that he would have been fully exposed to the Neo-Marxist and Post-Modernist rhetoric and knows how to respond.
An excellent article, thank you sir.
I was stuck in victimhood for a very long time, longer than I’d like to admit. I was a victim and suffered greatly, don’t get me wrong, but I am also a survivor, a healer, a warrior and a hero. We are all, all of these things, if we choose.
We could easily replace the words “victim” or “victimhood” with the words “immature” and/or “ignorant” and it has the same meaning.
We are all victims of something or someone. And we can stay there as long as we want. But we aren’t learning anything, healing anything or getting any closer to fulfilling our potential when we keep ourselves there.
All of the answers and freedom we seek lies on the other side of victimhood. And we all have the capacity to get to the other side 💪🏻