There exists today in the United States a vast, ever-increasing cultural divide. A splintering of what we know as a collective American society. Constant, unrelenting attention is being placed on how we are different, and how those differences are bad, how those differences affect us in our day-to-day lives.
This divide is being perpetuated by the concept of a "culture of victimhood." Essentially, the idea is that, when faced with a problem, instead of taking responsibility for the position that a person finds themselves in, one would rather complain in the hopes that somebody else either provides an easy solution or absolves the person of their problem altogether.
At a glance, the whole idea is reminiscent of being lectured at by an older relative — ranting about "this generation." However, sociologists are increasingly arguing that victimhood culture is not simply a generational squabble, but a real societal phenomenon. In an article published in the "Journal of Comparative Sociology (Vol.13, No.6, pp.692-726)," sociologists Jason Manning and Bradley Campbell argue that victimhood culture has led to "a large scale moral change...that is distinct from the honor cultures and dignity cultures of the past."
A good example of victimhood culture, and the moral change it is causing might be the idea of "microaggressions." The idea that slights — or underhanded comments — are a vessel for subtle, undercover racism. Some examples of microaggressions, as presented by Prof. Derald Wing Sue in his essay "Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation" are:
"You are a credit to your race."
To a person of Asian decent, "You must be good at math."
Intentionally, repeatedly mispronouncing the names of individuals with non-English based names.
The above examples, while not necessarily outright racist, are certainly, at the very least, inappropriate. However, many of the other examples listed by Prof. Sue are absolutely laughable.
"I believe that the most qualified person should get the job."
"Men and women have equal opportunities for achievement."
"Everyone can succeed in society, if they work hard enough"
"America is a melting pot."
"America is the land of opportunity."
According to Prof. Sue, these statements carry the message that "people of color are given extra, unfair benefits because of their race," "the playing field is even, so if women cannot make it, the problem is with them" and "people of color are lazy and/or incompetent and need to work harder."
Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that the most qualified person, should, in fact, get the job, regardless of race, religion or creed. I believe that in 2016, with three former female US Secretaries of State (and one presidential candidate!), 22 female heads of state, 104 female US congresspeople and the full integration of women into US front line fighting forces, it is fair to say that men and women have equal opportunities for achievement. I can't for the life of me understand how preaching that hard work leads to success can be made a racial or gender issue. And those last two — what is there to say?
People who feel personally attacked by statements like these are only serving to perpetuate this culture of victimhood that exists today in the United States. We, not only as a nation but as a society, need to stop focusing on the blame game if we want to close the cultural divide. We need to stop focusing on what makes us different and instead embrace what links us all together.
