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Do you think we're stupid or something?
Oct. 25th, 2003 04:40 amZNet Commentary
The Class Divide October 25, 2003
By Cynthia Peters
In her book, Bridging the Class Divide, Linda Stout mentions an incident when low-income activists created a brochure that included the quote, "Something has got to be wrong when the government spends so much money on the military and nothing on me!" Somewhere in the production process, the quote was "corrected" to read, "I don't understand why the government spends so much money on the military and nothing on me." When the creators of the brochure saw the change, they were angry: "What do you mean we don't understand? Of course we understand! Do you think we're stupid or something?" (p. 119).
When middle-class activists approach organizing with the assumption that they need to enlighten and educate the duped and the unaware, they may be contributing to the class divide that exists in current social change movements.
( Read more... )
The Class Divide October 25, 2003
By Cynthia Peters
In her book, Bridging the Class Divide, Linda Stout mentions an incident when low-income activists created a brochure that included the quote, "Something has got to be wrong when the government spends so much money on the military and nothing on me!" Somewhere in the production process, the quote was "corrected" to read, "I don't understand why the government spends so much money on the military and nothing on me." When the creators of the brochure saw the change, they were angry: "What do you mean we don't understand? Of course we understand! Do you think we're stupid or something?" (p. 119).
When middle-class activists approach organizing with the assumption that they need to enlighten and educate the duped and the unaware, they may be contributing to the class divide that exists in current social change movements.
( Read more... )