10th Blog Post
When I was reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the line "You don't pass or fail at being a person." stood out to me. I remember agreeing with it instantly, and I still feel the same way after having had time to reflect more on the novel.
I believe that all human beings have inherent worth and dignity simply by being alive. Human beings do bad things. There are people who may be inherently "bad", perhaps because they were born that way or perhaps due to their environment and circumstances. Even still, a person has worth. All people have the capability to do good. All people experience what it is to be human: to feel, to think, to love, to experience pain. The human experience is shared by all of us in some capacity, even people with personality disorders that we may consider "inhuman".
Dehumanizing can be so incredibly painful because we are human. Black individuals have been dehumanized as part of the long history of colonization, slavery, and racism that has guided human existence. It is incredibly difficult to cause such harm and destruction to people and communities unless you view them as something other than human, as a savage unintelligent creature that feels no pain. Indigenous people are often viewed in the same way. Indian schools stole Indigenous people away from their homes, families and cultures and molded them into what white people thought to be human. It was viewed as an act of mercy, of saving these people from their uncivilized, animalistic ways. Eugenics, phrenology, Nazi ideology and the neo-Nazi and white supremacist offshoots that exist today because of it are built primarily on the idea that those who do not fit into the white, intellectual norm are not human. Disabled individuals, those with chronic illness, and other so-called undesirables are not worthy of reproducing and must be "culled" from society. The disgustingly anti-semitic conspiracy theory that "reptilians" are running a secret shadow government literally turns Jewish people into something other than humans. Phrenology was used to "prove" that people of color were closer to animals than white people and that Aboriginal and Maori people could never be "civilized". The queer community faces extreme violence, particularly among trans women of color. The murderers of these women, who are usually pre or non-operational, are able to claim that they were so shocked and disgusted by the fact that they are trans that it triggered temporary insanity where the accused had no choice but to resort to murder. The gay/trans panic defense (now also called LGBTQ panic defense) is only banned in a select few states. For those outside of these communities, it is hard to understand the deep shame and horror that comes from the often accepted idea that it is okay to murder you because who you are as a person is so shocking to the average individual.
All human beings have an obligation to help each other thrive. Because of this, I think that we have an obligation to call out someone who may be straying down the wrong path and provide support to individuals who need it. But there is no way to "fail" at being a human being. People who commit crimes need rehabilitation and support instead of isolation, slave labor, life-long stigma and being stripped of their rights. People who have wronged communities or people have an obligation to make it up to them somehow instead of simply apologizing without fixing the damage done by their actions. But we all make mistakes. Human beings live in a flawed, complex system and it is understandable that we may not always be perfect.
I believe that all human beings have inherent worth and dignity simply by being alive. Human beings do bad things. There are people who may be inherently "bad", perhaps because they were born that way or perhaps due to their environment and circumstances. Even still, a person has worth. All people have the capability to do good. All people experience what it is to be human: to feel, to think, to love, to experience pain. The human experience is shared by all of us in some capacity, even people with personality disorders that we may consider "inhuman".
Dehumanizing can be so incredibly painful because we are human. Black individuals have been dehumanized as part of the long history of colonization, slavery, and racism that has guided human existence. It is incredibly difficult to cause such harm and destruction to people and communities unless you view them as something other than human, as a savage unintelligent creature that feels no pain. Indigenous people are often viewed in the same way. Indian schools stole Indigenous people away from their homes, families and cultures and molded them into what white people thought to be human. It was viewed as an act of mercy, of saving these people from their uncivilized, animalistic ways. Eugenics, phrenology, Nazi ideology and the neo-Nazi and white supremacist offshoots that exist today because of it are built primarily on the idea that those who do not fit into the white, intellectual norm are not human. Disabled individuals, those with chronic illness, and other so-called undesirables are not worthy of reproducing and must be "culled" from society. The disgustingly anti-semitic conspiracy theory that "reptilians" are running a secret shadow government literally turns Jewish people into something other than humans. Phrenology was used to "prove" that people of color were closer to animals than white people and that Aboriginal and Maori people could never be "civilized". The queer community faces extreme violence, particularly among trans women of color. The murderers of these women, who are usually pre or non-operational, are able to claim that they were so shocked and disgusted by the fact that they are trans that it triggered temporary insanity where the accused had no choice but to resort to murder. The gay/trans panic defense (now also called LGBTQ panic defense) is only banned in a select few states. For those outside of these communities, it is hard to understand the deep shame and horror that comes from the often accepted idea that it is okay to murder you because who you are as a person is so shocking to the average individual.
All human beings have an obligation to help each other thrive. Because of this, I think that we have an obligation to call out someone who may be straying down the wrong path and provide support to individuals who need it. But there is no way to "fail" at being a human being. People who commit crimes need rehabilitation and support instead of isolation, slave labor, life-long stigma and being stripped of their rights. People who have wronged communities or people have an obligation to make it up to them somehow instead of simply apologizing without fixing the damage done by their actions. But we all make mistakes. Human beings live in a flawed, complex system and it is understandable that we may not always be perfect.
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