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The Myth of the Victim Mentality


"The truth is that as much democracy as this nation has today, it has been borne on the backs of black resistance. Our founding fathers may not have actually believed in the ideals they espoused, but black people did. As one scholar, Joe R. Feagin, put it, ‘‘Enslaved African Americans have been among the foremost freedom- fighters this country has produced.’’ For generations, we have believed in this country with a faith it did not deserve. Black people have seen the worst of America, yet, somehow, we still believe in its best."- Nikole Hannah Jones

This powerful quote came from the brilliant and controversial New York Times magazine entitled "The 1619 Project".  I have heard so many times that black people just play the victim and don't pick themselves up from their bootstraps and get to work in order to get themselves out of poverty and their plight.  Well, they have been doing this for generations.  We just refuse to see this collective effort because of the stereotypes that we hold so tightly to and we assume that the things we hear about most must be true for all.  What do we hear about most in regards to black people? They are violent, criminal, are promiscuous, have a lot of abortions, and are sucking up welfare for generations.  With these stereotypes are the forefront of society's social brain, no wonder when there is the "token" black child in a class of white kids they get told "you're not really black" or "you act so white" because this child doesn't fit these stereotypes.  How offensive this is for many! 

I love how Nikole said that "Black people have seen the worst of America, yet, somehow, we still believe in its best." This is true as black people are joining the fight for their personal justice and freedoms and more and more are going to college, becoming leaders in government, community, and business and are raising families to do the same.  See- black people have always had to fight so it is in them to fight on and they do.  

Even when stereotypes are true for them- they carry on.  While acknowledging perhaps the overall cause of their situation (systemic racism), they still work to raise their children the best they can- even without all the tools to do so.  They work to find the best jobs they can to take care of these children.  Our welfare system is so distorted though that sometimes this effort is curtailed because of the welfare benefit restrictions.  Is this curtailment because they WANT to be on welfare and work for nothing? NO! It's because the amount of income they would need to completely come out of welfare is NOT within their grasp.  Welfare programs fail to give people incremental time to gain the necessary wealth in order to provide for themselves.  It simply cuts them off after a very low threshold- a threshold that is NOT sustainable and one that will not allow them time to work while also looking for a better job or even be able to go to school.  Blacks do the very best they can often in living in substandard housing, in food deserts, in very poor school districts.   

Are there some people who take advantage of welfare? SURE! Are there some who are drug addicts and dealers who aren't trying to better themselves? SURE.  But these are not the norm and it is not just a black thing.  These kind of people are in every impoverished race.  Poverty and a broken welfare system, more than race, causes these problems.  

Please stop victim shaming black people for calling out systemic racism that works to keep them down.  Even when they are vocal about this- they are still trying to make it just like rest of us "hard-working" white people.  And if there is a victim...then there must be an attacker or an assailant. Maybe we should ponder on who that might be.  In regards to rape victims- do we blame the victim or the rapist? Food for thought. 

This is an excellent article to give more information about welfare and misconceptions from the website The Balance, a highly rated and unbiased financial website.  


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