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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Deleting Out the Cruelty ... Killing the Judgment ...

I know better than to think that I can change people ... I don't think I can.

Sometimes, though, I bite when given the opportunity to debate something that obviously isn't worth my time, effort or energy. I was highly inspired by Aubrey at Way Too Much Aubrey a few months ago and her post/rant about judgment of those who receive help and subsidies from the government. I have fought that battle myself with people in the Facebook world, and occasionally in person.

I remember sitting around the Thanksgiving dinner table with my family when I was 19. I was in the middle of my sophomore year of college and I was taking a core-required Black History class. I had always been liberal, always believed in feeding, clothing and sheltering the poor, but that class changed me. It wasn't about race, it was about people being told "you're not allowed to have children because you're poor," and then refusing to help them with birth control or abortions or even adoptions. It was about people being treated like second class citizens because of their economic background, not their skin color.

Back to my Thanksgiving dinner table ...

A discussion started because they asked how school was going, and I listened to my grandparents, my aunt, and one of my cousins all lay into me about how all poor people