There is something terribly wrong with this line. Why do we, as a society, paint members of minority groups as victims? We may not do it totally consciously, and in fact we may intend well when we do it, but by conferring "victim" status upon minorities we are only compounding their marginalization and disenfranchisement.
The word “victim” means that someone has been disadvantaged and, through no fault of their own, is powerless to improve their situation. So, through creeds like affirmative action, we are telling minorities that they're helpless and incapable. Affirmative actions simply screams, "You can't get into college on your own merit, so we'll have to help you." It amounts to telling minorities that they are not intelligent or hardworking enough to improve themselves. To put it bluntly, we're racist.
There are many types of minorities, be they religious, ethnic, racial or sexual. So, let me lay out a few specific examples of instances in which we, society, treat these minorities like victims: affirmative action (in college admissions and banking practices), the advocacy for reparations for slavery, Coming Out Day, Day of Silence, various "heritage" months (like last month, Latino Heritage Month), and so on. Now wait a minute, you may protest, how do any of the above "victimize" minorities?
Well, all these instances amount to "special treatment” and the fact that society treats various minorities "specially" conveys the wrong message. This message is that, because they're supposedly so different, they need to be treated in a special manner because society normally treats them badly or represses them. To me, that's just plain wrong. That makes them feel like a victim. Even those who advocate special treatment for minorities to "make up" for society's past "misdeeds" (like segregation, for example), are rendering them powerless today to advance their own interests.
As a result of society victimizing minorities over this past generation, minorities themselves have sometimes come to regard themselves as victims, albeit unconsciously. This in turn causes minorities to demand special treatment while not finding solutions on their own. They expect others to treat them specially, and to find solutions for their own problems. To return to the example of affirmative action, blacks are underrepresented in colleges, so the solution according to the victimization mindset is affirmative action, instead of focusing on part of the real problem: the fact that inner city schools, which are mostly minorities, are the nation's poorest academic performers.
There are grave repercussions of the victim mindset. For one thing, as I noted above, it prevents us as a society from identifying the true root of a problem. Also, it only contributes to disenfranchisement, and that in itself is racist. The fault for why minorities are generally disadvantaged in today's society largely lies with the people who for the past generation have convinced them they're incapable- that society is racist, and holds them down, so they need special help. If anything, such an approach is condescending, and I don't understand why we've put up with it.
I for one don't believe that. I believe that minorities have control over their own lives, and have the intelligence and skill to do whatever they want. They can empower themselves. The only thing holding them back is the mindset that they can't.
I don't see heritage days or months as being about pity, but rather celebrating the work people in the past have done and what they have given up so others could have basic and civil rights. It's honoring those in the past, rather than the present.
Like what you've read? Well, then here's more:
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711
I know the bit about heritage months may have been a stretch in the context of this blog, but I have another problem with them, a problem which I'm planning on blogging on next. These heritage months contribute to "racial (or ethnic) balkanization," in which society emphasizes the differences between people rather than recognizing and celebrating our common humanity.
This was a problem at my high school, too, in which there was a "club" for every single ethnic group you could think of- the Asian Awareness Association, the Black Cultural Awareness Club, the Jewish Heritage Club... and the list goes on. You walk into any of these club meetings, and guess what? Their membership entirely consists of Asians, blacks, or Jews, respectively. How is that about unity? We're balkanizing instead of uniting in America today.
What if there was an "Anglo-Saxon Heritage Month," or "White Culture Awareness Club?" It sounds ridiculous to me- why is there a double standard, then?
Nice blogging: I think some forms of affirmative action should be here to speed up the process for overcoming the negative effects of segregation, and some minorities are victims. I emphasize the word SOME. I agree with you in that we have gone overboard in associating minority with victim as well as focusing on differences more then similarities, which only segregates us more. This also diverts our attention from real victims whom we may pay no attention to.
This also diverts our attention from real victims whom we may pay no attention to.
... like the poor! I wouldn't exactly characterize the poor as being "victims" all the time, but they need a helping hand more than minorities. In fact, (not very) coincidentally, minorities make up a disproportionate segment of the poor population of the United States. If affirmative action should exist at all, it should be based on economic factors, not ethnic or racial.
Of course, what do I mean by lending "a helping hand" to the poor? Welfare programs only perpetuate poverty by removing incentives to get a job. The United States government should focus on long-term solutions to poverty, like ensuring the poor get more job and education opportunities. If this happens, I think the whole "minority as victim" thing will no longer be an issue.