Document Type
Opinion Piece
Publication Title
The Maine Campus
Publication Date
9-27-2016
Abstract/ Summary
Cultural norms shape perceptions. This is an unavoidable truth, but one that is rarely acknowledged. It isn’t important whether that lack of acknowledgement is based on a general unawareness or willful ignorance or something else — but simply that it happens. The majority of the mainstream public is in the dark about many prejudices that seep into societal norms. One of the struggles many of us face is putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Majorities have trouble sympathizing with minorities or refuse to try. White people cannot be the target of racism, heterosexuals do not have to live with homophobia as part of their daily lives and a man cannot fathom life as a woman. Since these harmful binaries are so ingrained into our culture and therefore our minds, it’s hard to be free of them. Minorities have to fight for their rights and majorities have to fight the internalized prejudices that they grew up thinking were acceptable.
Identifier
Racial Justice_Maine Campus_2021_01_16r
Repository Citation
Tracy, Sam, "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen : Social constructions in the best of us" (2016). Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. 202.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/social_justice/202
Version
publisher's version of the published document
Rights and Access Note
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