I don’t disagree, but why does perpetuating their victim status always seem to be the default solution? Or even the only solution? Because victimhood is exactly the opposite of empowerment. Victims by definition are helpless, oppressed, prisoners of circumstance. They’re being told that they have no responsibility for the situation they’re in — thus no personal agency — and the only way things will get better is if someone else changes the situation for then. (This is obviously true no matter what color a person’s skin may be.) You can respect people’s feelings/experiences and also encourage forward progress and personal growth.

At some point we all have to come to the realization that people who are constantly bombarded with this type of messaging will reach a point where they aren’t angry, desperate, and disillusioned because of what may have happened to them in the past and cannot be changed, but because they perceive that they have no control over their own futures either. Feeding that cycle of hopelessness is the biggest crime being committed against the black community these days, imo.

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Posted by aujhw1

Member since May 2020

43 posts

Posted on 5/31/20 at 11:54 pm to DeepBlueSea

quote:
I don’t disagree, but why does perpetuating their victim status always seem to be the default solution? Or even the only solution? Because victimhood is exactly the opposite of empowerment. Victims by definition are helpless, oppressed, prisoners of circumstance. They’re being told that they have no responsibility for the situation they’re in — thus no personal agency — and the only way things will get better is if someone else changes the situation for then. (This is obviously true no matter what color a person’s skin may be.) You can respect people’s feelings/experiences and also encourage forward progress and personal growth.

At some point we all have to come to the realization that people who are constantly bombarded with this type of messaging will reach a point where they aren’t angry, desperate, and disillusioned because of what may have happened to them in the past and cannot be changed, but because they perceive that they have no control over their own futures either. Feeding that cycle of hopelessness is the biggest crime being committed against the black community these days, imo.

I think calling for change, voting, and protesting are ways to take responsibility to change things. The civil rights movement offered an example of that. We aren’t just talking about the past either. We are talking about injustices that happen today. There are just so many examples especially in the context of the criminal justice system.

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