“Disadvantaged white people are not erased by discussions of disadvantages facing people of color, just as brain cancer is not erased by talking about breast cancer. They are two different issues with two different treatments, and they require two different conversations.”
Linda hosts One-Liner Wednesday. Check out her blog to see who else is participating this week.
So many disadvantaged in our imperfect world. So many struggles. Each struggle and each disadvantage is as valid as the next. For the person involved it becomes all consuming. Far too easily dismissed by others.
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This is so true. I think a lot of our disconnect happens because people feel invisible or discounted somehow.
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While I agree with the statement, and the need for different conversations, there is a general, perhaps meta-conversation over the concept of “Disadvantaged.” So many people refuse to accept that anyone is actually at a disadvantage in our society. It’s absurd – so many people are at a disadvantage, for so many reasons, but I keep hearing things like: “I pulled myself up…” “my parents pulled themselves up…” but there’s little mention of the help those “self-starters” had – That IS/WAS their advantage, but they ignore it.
Sorry, I’m not trying to diminish your message, Laura, it’s just that this is pet peeve of mine. There might be as many forms of disadvantage as there are forms of cancer, all with different symptoms and degrees of severity. They all deserve a conversation, because they all deserve to be recognized.
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Agreed! It perplexes me to no end that people insist that a) *I* did ___ so therefore *anybody* can do ___, b) YOU think you have it bad but MY FAMILY…, or c) acknowledging a problem with something discounts the possibility that a similar problem exists elsewhere.
WHY DO PEOPLE INSIST ONLY ONE STRUGGLE “COUNTS”???
There. Now I’ve vented properly. Thanks for adding your thoughts, Dan.
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Vent away.
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