I would appreciate your thoughts about how certain minorities should deal with bias. I know that people can belong to minority populations because of their race or religion, but I was thinking more along the lines of minority populations who may share certain physical or cognitive characteristics. More and more, such people are being included in society, but they must still deal with stereotypes, condescension, patronisation, and emotional strain because of the way society treats them. For instance, some churches treat such individuals as if they are helpless and consider administering to their needs as an act of charity or a mission project, while considering administering to the needs of majority populations like teenagers or singles to be something that is expected. How can such individuals increase their positive interactions, reduce the emotional strain that society creates, and depart from an inferior social status without invoking hostility or discomfort?
Minority Bias
- Thread starter grapefruit
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I think the only way to escape people disrespecting, misunderstanding, and not caring enough or not taking minority groups seriously, is for them to become a larger group, or to become influential or important in some way to the masses. Otherwise, there is literally no reason for them to be cared about, with majority groups pretending to care about them at most just for the sake of appearances.
So, you're basically saying that the visually impaired should start gouging out peoples eyes with spoons, people with autism should conduct a low profile mass brain restructuring of the masses, and wheelchair users should start snapping spinal cords left and right, covertly of course. As for these minority groups benefitting the masses, they do, but the masses fail to acknowledge it. I read somewhere that Bill Gates is thought to have Aspergers, and other minority populations have traversed all walks of life. Even those who are not intellectually gifted contribute to society in ways that many refuse to acknowledge. For instance, many populations where the majority harps on their lack of intellectual talent do very well and receive fulfillment from jobs like food service or mechanical work that intellects would find unsatisfying.
I wouldn't consider groups such as the visually or otherwise impaired to be unacknowledged or misunderstood in our society. People who disrespect them are looked down upon. The impaired make up a large group of people that cannot be ignored.
I wish I could inhabit your community because where I live, many of the visually impaired are bullied in school, met with lower expectations, provided with decreased educational opportunity, and considered problem employees by employers who have never met them, which is the main reason that unemployment for these individuals stands at 70%. Further, if you interact with this population or at least read internet blogs, you will learn that while this population can integrate with the majority, they often encounter biases like people who think they need to be cured, people who grab them without asking and pull them across streets, people who jab fingers in front of their faces, or people who gasp in horror if they use a white cane to traverse stairs. For instance, you might not believe me if I told you that blind medical doctors exist, very few, but they are there. However, you would undoubtedly have no trouble believing that people without visual impairments become doctors despite visual impairment being unrelated to intelligence. Your mind might find fault if it were to imagine a blind scientist, computer programmer, or engineer. If not, then more minds like yours could benefit the world, and you should know that in that respect, you are in the minority.
I am not saying that they are socially inferior. I am saying that people treat them like they are. It seems that there is a general consensus among the masses that these minority populations are deficient in some way, so they should sit silently and trust in the non-deficient majority to provide for them and determine the freedom they are allowed. Society gives the impression that social advances toward these individuals are mostly acts of charity, and that they are definitely not dating material. I can prove this because you rarely see these populations in the media, and if you do, they are depicted as helpless beings who must be constantly tended like babies. Some people claim that they would rather be dead than belong to one of these minority populations.
You are full of yourself. The last thing I think any "poor" minority faction needs is someone like you stumping for them. You overzealous "do gooders" are just as much of a bane as those who tout the party line of "inferior" status. Sure as hell sounds like you buy into the whole "inferior social status" argument, even if you don't believe it--since you are seeking ways for them "poor" minorities (who would rather be dead) to overcome it. Funny, I bet there are oodles of people who are happy of who they are without having to seek approval for their sense of self.
I feel strange about the visual impairment thing as my roommate is visually impaired. He doesn't have a cane or a seeing eye dog but he does have difficulty with employment. He somehow manages to have a thriving social life and doesn't seem to be discriminated against. He always likes to joke that he's fucked in life because he's gay, blind and likes Star Trek lol. There are not as many resources in Canada for the blind as there are in the USA and I don't know what it's like elsewhere. There is a lot of anxiety that comes from being visually impaired but I think he would feel resentful if people helped him when it is unsolicited. He values his independence. If he needs help, he'll ask.
I know one thing about this subject. Unless you have truly walked in the shoes of someone that deals with the unique issues of any group you have no idea what it's really like. Every person handles the cards they've been dealt differently.
What do you mean? Actually, I know a lot more about this than you think, and many members of minority populations are happy and don't want to be dead. I was saying that people who don't belong to those populations think they would rather be dead if they did when they don't even know what it's like. For example, many people associate blindness with darkness and helplessness, so they think they would rather be dead than blind. They fear blindness, and this makes them fear blind people, and can sometimes result in adverse treatment. They do not realize that many blind people still have a bit of vision or at least light perception, and that the ones who don't just don't see anything. Seeing nothing and seeing darkness are two different things. I am sure that many people who belong to minority populations are happy with who they are, but the majority of society isn't. Research shows that people with Aspergers are 7 times more likely to be bullied than those without it. People who look physically different than the majority are more likely to be bullied as well. Society does give such populations an inferior social status because people think they are incapable, that the world presents too much difficulty for them, and that they must be sheltered from it even though such narrow minded assertions have been disproved. If you could be more clear and explain exactly what you find wrong with what I am saying, I would appreciate it because based on your responses, it seems like you may be misinterpreting some of it.
What I find annoying is the idea that you think the onus of "changing" belongs to those with the actual issues rather than the ignorant others who seek to isolate or treat them differently. My best friend is in a wheel chair. She does more in a single day than most able bodied. She doesn't believe in giving any thought to what other's think of her and does what she needs to do. Life will always be unfair, we should strive for parity. The more we point the finger at those with differences and coo about how we can help "them" be more accepted, the less we work on ourselves to learn to see them as people first and not the sum of their physcial appearance.
Firstly, you are assuming that I am an outsider who does not belong to one of these populations, but I have more firsthand experience than you think. I do not want to help these minority groups achieve acceptance out of some desire to reach a helpers high. It really affects me emotionally to know that the majority stereotypes certain populations and treats them like they are inferior. As for not caring what people think, you can try, but especially for an Infj who belongs to one of these groups, societal interactions can still be emotionally straining. Secondly, you are kind of doing the same thing by assuming that you are able bodied and that your friend is not. People in wheelchairs use alternative techniques to do recreational activities including skiing, defend themselves if they are attacked, and meet personal needs. They may not be able to move certain parts of their body, and different people have different skills, but many wheelchair users can do these things just as well as you can. They can undoubtedly use their wheelchairs as a carrying tool as well by hanging things from it, so they might even be able to transport more than you can. Additionally, if they are using an electric wheelchair, they don't have to expend as much energy to move around, which means they can use it for other things.
Actually able bodied is the term she uses. It recognizes that she has limitations to what she can and can't do. Although a quad, she does not use an electric wheelchair and works hard to stay fit and active. I have known her for 10 years and recognize she has limitations. It would be foolish not to see that there are differences or pretend that there aren't. However, she isn't a disabled person to me, she is a person who happens to have a disability.
You are right about making assumptions that you don't have issues. I don't know you. I would say that the thing I admire the most about my bf is that she does not make any excuses for herself and her condition. She strives to work harder because she knows she has to. She doens't bother to think about how the world sees her. She is dignified and determined to do what needs to be done, with or without help. How you see yourself depends on you, not others. I can appreciate it would be hard when you crave some type of acceptance but the truth is that outside acceptance will never fill your inner spirit. We all struggle with accepting who we are, we hide our unlovely selves and tell ourselves pretty lies.
You are right about making assumptions that you don't have issues. I don't know you. I would say that the thing I admire the most about my bf is that she does not make any excuses for herself and her condition. She strives to work harder because she knows she has to. She doens't bother to think about how the world sees her. She is dignified and determined to do what needs to be done, with or without help. How you see yourself depends on you, not others. I can appreciate it would be hard when you crave some type of acceptance but the truth is that outside acceptance will never fill your inner spirit. We all struggle with accepting who we are, we hide our unlovely selves and tell ourselves pretty lies.
Belonging to a minority group doesn't have to be an issue. Everyone has different attributes that can both help and impede them. It is only that some attributes can be physically or medically identified while others cannot. Everyone has to work harder at different things, and the attributes that impede them in certain areas can help them in others. However, many people make the assumption that minority groups who have easily identifiable attributes are less able and disadvantaged in all areas of life, and this is simply not the case. If you want to use the word disability, you have to apply it to everyone because everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.