Weisel struggles against what he calls "selective sensitivity"--people being sensitive to one category of victims and not others. Where do you see "selective sensitivity" today? What can we do to, if anything, to change that mindset?
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Selective sensitivity can be seen in many places around the world today. For example, in Darfur the same thing is happening to certain tribes as what happened to the Jews in the Holocaust. Slavery is also very similar to the Holocaust but it is still not thought of as being as horrible. I think the Holocaust is absolutely terrible, but it is not the only time in history that certain groups of people have being treated very badly because of their beliefs or skin color. I think that if more people started to speak out about the horrible events that have or are happening to other groups of people maybe people would not think of the holocaust as the only horrible event in history.
I think we see selective sensitivity in America as well as other countries. Many people feel sorry for the illegal immigrants but not for the people who were born here or came here legally. The government gives the illegal immigrants more breaks than it gives the common people. Society is changing to fit the immigrant's life when it never changed in the past. Many European immigrants had to learn our customs, but now we have to learn the customs of others who aren't even legal. -Sorry that was kinda of a rant- Another instance is in Darfur where selective sensitivity is also happening. The people who want to be leaders are making it so that whoever opposes them can't live a normal life. I think the only way to decrease selective sensitivity is to inform the world about what's really going on and for them to acknowledge it. If people, especially those in power, don't know the whole truth or don't acknowledge it, they can't change it.
Selective sensitivity is and always will be around throughout the world. We saw it during the slavery era in early America where people really had no care for the African population. We also saw it in ancient China where there were large differences in the social classes. It is all over today as well. For example, the war in Iraq is a strong cause of selective sensitivity. Many people around the globe are sympathetic towards the Americans and their cause and yet fail to see the troubles that the everyday citizens of Iraq must go through. It also works the same way as many people hate the Americans and their cause while they strongly support the Muslims and theirs. We also see it, as everyone is probably going to point out, in Darfur, where tribes are killing off other tribes for apparently no reason. Selective sensitivity is and will always be around forever and ever.
I think that selective sensitivity is found all over the world. With kings and queens in some countries, the kings and queens are seen as higher and more important in society then others. This is selective sensitivity because the royalty will and are treated with more respect then those under them. Even in jobs today, most of the time, with jobs that require "manly" work, the men are more likely to be selected for the spot than a woman would be. Men also get paid more in some jobs for various reasonings. Finally, slavery and segregation is discrimination to blacks because they are seen as the lesser race.
Selective sensitivity is very prominent in our society. If someone of the white majority says or does something even mildly offensive towards a minority they are looked down upon greatly. However if someone from a minority turns and says something negative towards the white majority it is not looked on as near as bad of a thing. Selective sensitivity always has and always will be present in our culture, however it is not even near the extent as it was during the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was a terrible event in history and selective sensitivity was commonly used then. Selective sensitivity is also seen prominently in America today. The average American is especially sensitive toward minorities and women. These groups of people have been seen as less significant for many decades and have fought for equal rights. Many people are supportive of their cause. They are the underdogs of society and everyone tends to root for the underdog. In contrast, most everyone hates a middle-aged white male. They have the biggest role in society and therefore must accept the consequences of being the majority. To change the mindset of selective sensitivity we must be able to see everyone as equals regardless of race or background.
I think that selective sensitivity has been apart of our world and its history for a very long time. The Holocaust wasn’t the first time the Jews were selected to be treated unjustly for who they were as a people. This same kind of treatment and idea of selective sensitivity has also been seen in ancient Egypt. Here slaves were treated poorly because they were seen only for their ability to work. In American history we see that African slaves were selected to serve white Americans because they were thought to be lower due to the color of their skin. In the modern world we see that this selective sensitivity is still going on in places like Darfur and Rwanda where people are being killed for what seems to be not good reason. Even in America we see that some ethnic groups are selected to be treated differently such as Hispanics, Arabs and even African Americans. I think that the best way to help change the mindset of people is to educate them about what is happening in the world and what has already happened. Teaching people that we as humans are all valuable and that it doesn’t matter what race, ethnic group or religion we belong to, we all have an important role to play in the world.
I think it's amazing that Americans will send millions of dollars overseas to build schools and hospitals for poor Asian and African children while ignoring poor children right here in the United States. I think part of this "selective sensitivity" is due to the fact that it's much easier to write out a check for the poor Africans than it is to give a few bucks to the kids right in your own neighborhood. Meeting needy people face to face can get "messy." You might find yourself getting involved, and who has time for that, right? It's really kind of hypocritical to think that kids overseas are more deserving than our own kids. I remember reading about a church group right here in Kearney that took a mission trip to England. Why couldn't they have saved their money and gone to Omaha, instead?
JACK CHATELAIN- it was being gay...
I think selective sensitivity can be found anywhere in the world, but i think a lot of people would be surprised to find it here in the united states. While the national media may be drawn to the problems and issues of foreign countries, the same kind of issues are being dealt with here on home soil. You look at celebrities such as Oprah who use their assets to help improve the lives of people from third world countries. Now i am not condemning it but its interesting to see how we can be blinded to the problems here sometimes. Some verse in the bible:
Do not try to remove the splinter from your friends eye without first removing the plank from your own...or something.
Selective sensitivity sucks. It's true, but I think it will always be around. You can still see it today with certain ethnic groups such as African Americans, Jews, Germans, Iraqis, and Muslims within the United States. I don't think we will ever be able to completely change the mindset of selective sensitivity but I do know that we shouldn't let it take over our lives and continually worry about weither you are going to hurt someone's feelings.
Everywhere until the end of time i think there will be selective sensitivity. Whether it be applying for a job, in which a white male is given the job over a black man, for no apparent reason, or in other countries where tribes kill eachother simply because they don't like the others. Without even thinking about it we look at others and judge them or think lowly of them jst because they look or act differently. It reminds me of a scene in To Kill A Mockingbird, in which their aunt and her group of friends is feeling sorry for the mistreatment and needed care for blacks in Africa, but they were so against blacks in their own town. I think selective sensitivity has been around for so long that we don't often realize how common it is today.
There is lots of selective sensitivity in the world today. Of course nothing is even close to as bad as the holocaust was but it is still a very big problem. Some people may not agree with me, but i believe that our United States government is responsible for some of it. We are in a ridiculous war and are killing innocent people that are upart of a certain group. We are directly connected to killing the innocent people in Iraq and we are also connected to the killings of other innocent people who happen to be part of the same group but in a different country. This is occuring in Palestine. The Israelis are killing innocent Palestinians over something that is very ridiculous (Everyone knows the land belongs to Palestine including our government, but the powerful ones are too stubborn to help who is being oppressed). I do not want to explain why both of these are in my eyes "selective sensitivity" right now. In Sudan the Arab Government is doing very bad things to the innocent people of the country. In Somalia there are also many problems that are close to genocide. Kenya is also having many problems regarding certain groups.I just noticed that in almost all of these cases the people being oppressed happen to be Muslims. Many people say they deserve it because we are all terrorists. I am not saying that thre are not Muslim terrorists but hitler was a Christian and so is the KKK and i will never in my whole life call a Christian a terrorist. I dont think that "selective Sensitivity" has to include violence. The image the muslims have is causing many problems for us. Although the image isnt what is killing us, this non violent "selective sensitivity" may eventually do so.
may peace come to this earth.
I think we see selective sensitivity in many places today. I agree with everyone about the Holocaust, Darfur, slavery, the Middle-East, etc. One place not mentioned yet is the selective sensitivity in high school. From a teacher's point of view, students who work hard might be treated differently than those who just mess around. In my case, when I was sick almost half of the time, my teachers helped me, worked with me, and were incredibly sympathetic because I was always working to get caught up. This might have been a different story if I didn't care about my grades and just gave up. From the students' point of view, selective sensitivity can be seen in the form of cliques. Preps treat preps differently than scurvs, skaters treat skaters differently than geeks, etc. Everyone is more sympathetic towards their own friends, than to people they don't get along with. We can try to change the mindset of selective sensitivity by reminding everyone that we're all the same in one way or another. Everyone has probably gone through phases where we act differently or dress differently than we do now, just as we mostly likely will change again. Also, we need to accept each other for who we are. If we were all the same, where would be the fun?
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