scarletwoman
scarletwoman's JournalPoll question: Why hasn't Henry Kissinger died yet?
Inspired by this post in Good Reads: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=91011
He will be 91 years old this May.
(Edited to belatedly add "All of the Above" option - you may change your votes at will.)
I came across a quote years ago - it was so succinct and right on, and it pains me greatly that
I can't remember it.
The gist of it is: We can never forgive those who we have harmed the most.
This is the core of white racism, this is the source of the hate. It's the unconscious recognition of the crimes committed against "The Other" that is so painful that it won't be acknowledged consciously. It gets twisted into hatred of the victims, because their very existence holds up a mirror - and in order to block out what the mirror reveals, the Other must be dehumanized and despised.
That is, in order to deny our guilt, and maintain our self-serving fiction that we are "good", we need to make our victims deserving of their oppression.
I'm so sorry that I can't remember the actual quote or where it came from. All I can remember is how it made so much sense.
I found some lovely links:
Marching for Human Rights: A Personal Account of a Pueblo PresenteEnemy Of The State (A Ductape Fatwa Tribute)
Ductape Fatwa Memorials
You Can't Reason With Americans
In memory of a wise man right here with you
There are more, but these are some of the most striking, imho. It always saddened me that he was so little appreciated here.
I'm so glad that you remember him, too.
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Gender: FemaleHometown: Minnesota
Current location: up north
Member since: 2001
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