Day 6 Reflections

The feelings that arise for me associated with this dehumanizing and in acknowledging these practices are ones of guilt, anger, and simply disgust.  I also feel some hopelessness (especially after the last election) given how very deep and, frankly, foundational we have to go and how much to undo to get to Charles's truth and conciliation.  And as a clinician it's hard to simultaneously feel both hopeless and try to hold hope for clients.  This was the first time hearing about the concept of common memory and it's a reminder of how hard understanding can be if we're all on different pages.  It reminded me of discussing with clients how siblings in the same house, with the same parents, can walk away as adults with wildly different perspectives and the strife this can create in families and generations.

(As an aside, this has been my favorite video yet.  Thank you for this resource!).

I am deeply saddened and frustrated by the dehumanization of native people and people of color. It can be very difficult to hold our own feelings and feelings for our clients who are impacted by these issues. In acknowledging foundational sexism, white supremacy, and racism in this country, I have similar feelings of frustration. I also find it difficult to understand how there is such a dearth of support for people affected by these forms of bigotry. These ideologies are not only perpetuated by the people unwilling to see how detrimental they are to marginalized populations, but also by the systems and institutions within our country. Common memory is so difficult to navigate when people hold such different beliefs and biases that limit them from perspective taking and understanding.