From time to time this blog will give out the Barbara Bush Award for Deluded Whiteness to worthy souls. No prize money, no gold medal. Just the mere honour. You do not have to be white to win – you just have to buy into the lies that white people tell themselves. You can add your nominations in the comments below.
The first winner is, of course, Barbara Bush herself.
On September 5th 2005 she visited the Houston Astrodome where 15,000 had fled Hurricane Katrina, having lost almost everything but their lives. Most were poor and most were black. She said this to an NPR reporter:
Almost everyone I’ve talked to says, “We’re going to move to Houston.” What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them.
Many compare this to the queen of France, Marie Antoinette, saying “Let them eat cake” when she was told that Paris had run out of bread to feed the poor.
But this is not a case of a rich and powerful person having no idea about how the other half lives. It is worse than that. It is a piece of racist excuse-making. The “sort of scary” tells you she is thinking of them as blacks, not as the cake-eating poor.
The better comparison is with statements that White Americans used to make about black slaves. Here is Robert E. Lee in 1856 on the good fortune of being a black slave:
The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things.
Here is the pattern (the unsaid parts in parentheses):
- (I know it looks bad but) blacks are better off here (America, the Houston Astrodome) than where they were (Africa, New Orleans).
- Things will get better.
This is also the pattern of those news stories on the state of Black America that you see on Martin Luther King Day.
It is an exercise in playing down black suffering. What makes it strange and unsettling is that no one who truly cared about such suffering would even think to talk like that. But whites do because they are driven more by their own sense of white guilt than other people’s suffering.
Katrina was hardly her fault, so why did Barbara Bush say this? It could just be habit, but more likely it was in answer to charges that her son, President George Bush, did not do enough to help poor blacks stuck in New Orleans during and right after Katrina. As Kanye West put it just three days before in one of the best pieces of television ever: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
See also:
- How to argue like a white racist
- “Go back to Africa” – Bush’s comment was a form of this argument
- Katrina
- white guilt
- just world doctrine – tra-la-la
“Many compare this to the queen of France, Marie Antoinette, saying “Let them eat cake” when she was told that Paris had run out of bread to feed the poor.”
That’s a myth conjured up by silly little know-nothing republicans!
LikeLike
well, actually, there’s no evidence that marie antoinette ever said that at all. it’s just a journalistic cliche that originated in rousseau’s confessions. i kind of highly doubt marie antoinette cared enough about the french poor to feed them cake instead of bread.
this award, however, is a good idea. when i saw that television spot of mrs. bush saying that, my only thought was, “ooooh man, i hope they didn’t hear that. old lady or not, that b**** gonna get f***ed up! if jesus can split a fish to feed five thousand, i’m sure that five thousand angry black people can split one racist into enough pieces to cover the astrodome.”
my only question is: if the award doesn’t require one to be white in order to receive it, then why call it the barbara bush award for deluded WHITENESS.
are we really going to equate whiteness with stupidity and ignorance? it just seems like you’re making white a negative; as if to be white instantly makes you suspect for racism. i mean, that’s fair (i guess) but hardly endearing to better race-relations.
maybe we could call it: “the barbara bush award for deluded racism”? or, “the barbara bush award for racist alzheimer victims.”
just a thought.
LikeLike
zek j is my husband, i’m cooking a chicken 4 dinner tonight sweetie…
LikeLike
When (or if) Antoinette said ‘Let them eat cake’ she didn’t mean the pastries we know today, but cake, which is also defined as soot. She knew they were suffering, but probably didn’t care.
LikeLike
@nuttie: uhh… but darling, you know i wanted to eat mexican tonight.
oh, and also: i’m not married. hell, i’m not even engaged. i’m as single as a high school AV student.
but thanks for trying 😉
LikeLike
Whiteness here means the set of ideas and beliefs held by whites as a whole. They are not just about racism and not all of them are necessarily deluded or bad. Nor do you have to have white skin to believe in them (though it helps).
LikeLike
“Almost everyone I’ve talked to says, “We’re going to move to Houston.” What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.
And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them.”
What a dumb twat! i can see where her son got his brains.
LikeLike
@abagond: but then why call it whiteness? why base the name off skin-color if skin-color has nothing to do with it?
and do you feel justified in making a generalization about what ideas or beliefs an entire group of people have based on just their skin-color? don’t you think that’s a little simplistic to lump all white people together like that? surely not all brown or yellow or black or red people can be said to hold a set of ideas or beliefs that can be described so easily as, “blackness, brownness, yellowness, redness.”
the problem isn’t in the theory itself, but the nomenclature and, i think, a general tendency for many people to indiscriminately label, categorize, and otherwise make assumptions about whites like they’re some bloc. you’re making one white racist equivalent to another, possibly/probably non-racist white person. notice, if i made a theory about blackness, wouldn’t that come off as slightly derogatory, if not downright racist? to make the assumption that one black person’s opinion or actions is transferable to the next. essentially what this does is MAKE a person’s skin-color a defining characteristic of who you think they are, no matter what they really are.
if the theory is not about being white, then it’s a misnomer. if the theory is about being white, then the theory is racist. your intentions might be benign, but in the end you’re using racism to explain racism. this is a logical fallacy and, even more, it’s immoral.
however, the way i read the theory (minus the name) it seems more as a general rule of thumb about racism and racists; an explanation. it’s a good metaphor, but you’ve got to lose the undesireable connotations that people will get from it. otherwise, all you’ve done is perpetuate another form of prejudice.
LikeLike
omg. So sorry to hear about your family Ezulie. 😦
LikeLike
http://www.chimpout.com/
*there’s no racism in america…”
LikeLike
u should do a post on can racism be cured
LikeLike
Oh Barbara…SMH!!
LikeLike
I had 3 family members drown in their own house, the coroner told us that rose had pieces of the mini blinds in her hands she was trying to get out the window. Yolanda and george were in the bedroom corner on the floor.
It is good because they died together as a family, Rose and George and their daughter Yolanda.
Oh, ERE, I also echo AO’s sentiment. I’m very sorry to hear about the loss of members of your family. 😦
LikeLike
u should do a post on can racism be cured
No because people, at least in America refuse to believe that racism exists unless it is overt and obvious. There is also group think, people assuming that being a member of a racial group, you represent that group, or another black person does. Like 50 cent, T Pain, and Lil Wayne represent black males because that is what they play on BET. Even though most the black people I know hate BET. Or when it is assumed being a Mexican means you are an illegal resident of the US and don’t belong there.
People fail to acknowledge it, and for many people being called “racist” holds to much of a stigma that they see it as an insult and pulling a “race card”, rather than a chance at self reflection.
LikeLike
Notice when a white kid drowns its all over the news and white people feel sorry for the kid. But when the black people were drowning and dying in New Orleans, the white people laughed at them and cheered and then tried to diminish the pain of the people.
For white people its only funny and “not that bad” when a black person is dying and suffering. But when a white person is suffering and dying, white people expect the entire world to stop for them!
It is kind of like when black women go missing, not a peep from the media, and if you relied on the media, you would think in the history of all of the United States a black woman had never been raped, and if she proclaimed she was raped, she was just making it up each and every time.
I remember Katrina and people getting mad that the people didn’t evacuate like they were told. Or the controversy when they showed white people struggling to forage for food, while black people doing the same thing were “looting”.
Ezulie,
I am so sorry about what happened to your family.
LikeLike
Ezulie,
I’m sorry about what happened to your family. May my sympathies go out to you and your family. May God be with you.
La Reyna
LikeLike
‘No because people, at least in America refuse to believe that racism exists unless it is overt and obvious.’
Exactly. If people don’t ‘see’ racism in all its’ variations, then how will it be ‘cured?’ A problem has to be identified and solutions put forward in order to remedy any injustices. If most people are in denial then how will this come about? As for those that liken being called a racist to being insulted, they are racist and they know it.
Group think allows most white people to reinforce their sense of superiority over racialized persons. As for them not having a culture, this is utter nonsense. If you talk to the average white person as to their family background, they can tell you where in Europe their families hailed from despite how many generations back. If they saw racialized people as individuals as opposed to a group, then their sense of superiority would be compromised.
Their culture is one of superior versus inferior. It is comforting when stereotypes are reinforced because it enhances their sense of superiority. They see themselves as benevolent towards racialized persons who are ‘better off’ than in other countries.
As for who else should be nominated for this award? The list is seemingly endless.
Ezulie, my condolences on your tragic loss.
LikeLike
i’m sorry too eruzlie
LikeLike
Siddity said,
People fail to acknowledge it, and for many people being called “racist” holds to much of a stigma that they see it as an insult and pulling a “race card”, rather than a chance at self reflection.
I agree 100% with this! I’ve met people who act like “racist” is the equivalent to the N-word, and so when confronted about being a racist, focus more on “You just hurt my feelings!” rather than saying, “Hm, did I just put my foot in my mouth?” I know it can be both, but I think of “racist” more as an adjective than a noun anyway, so I don’t think calling someone a racist is some kind of permanent blackball like the mark of Cain.
LikeLike
Same here.
LikeLike
Zek:
Most whites are racist. Tests show that 90% of white people have an easier time matching good words with whites and bad words with blacks than vice versa. So it is not just me with my racist self jumping to conclusions based on years of anecdotal experience.
It is not racist to say most x are y if it is true.
For example:
1. “Most shoplifters are black”
2. “Most black children are born out of wedlock”.
The first statement is racist because it is based on racist stereotypes rather than, say, the truth. Most shoplifters in fact are white.
The second statement is not racist – it is just a fact, an unfortunate one, but still a fact.
However, to keep repeating #2 just to make blacks look bad, that would be racist. But to bring it up when appropriate would not. It depends on the motive and context.
More on that test if you are curious:
LikeLike
Zek said:
“and do you feel justified in making a generalization about what ideas or beliefs an entire group of people have based on just their skin-color? don’t you think that’s a little simplistic to lump all white people together like that?”
White Americans lump themselves together without any help from me. They are the ones who created a society and a culture based on skin colour. It is not something that I am applying to them out of the blue because I am racist or something.
To make sense of White Americans without recourse to skin colour and the racist ideas that THEY apply to it, would be like making sense of the Jews without recourse to religion or God.
LikeLike
@abagond: the statement “It is not racist to say most x are y if it is true” is the same reasoning many bigots (and even regular people) use to stereotype muslims, blacks, hispanics, jews, etc. “truth” in this case is a very tricky word, as there is no absolute truth, and “facts” can be misleading because we never know how information has been gathered, whether it was contaminated with prejudice (like studies in polygeny have been) or whether it had accidental bias, or maybe it simply had improper methods that yielded corrupted data. my point is, your logic allows for A LOT of leeway to stereotype, and to discriminate. use it if you like, but be wary you don’t start turning into the racists you write about.
and i do doubt that most whites are racist. not just because of anecdotal evidence, but based on first-hand experience dealing with prejudice and the combined experience of others i have talked with.
i have taken that test before (and it said i had a preference for european) except when i looked into the test more i noticed that they constructed the test so that if you said your race as “white” they showed black faces first, before you got used to the system of the test and built your speed. whereas if you said you were “black”, the white faces appeared first, again before you got used to the controls of the test. this happened multiple times, even with other people i knew taking the test.
this slants the data, in my opinion, because you take longer to sort the words & faces on the first round due to uncertainty and unfamiliarity with the test’s parameters. another thing, that test did not include other races, like latinos, or asians, or indians. it makes only a white/black distinction, which is so simplistic. it judges whether a person is racist based in the assumption of only two races, even though there are many more than just the ones i listed above (if we are being honest about the contrived nature of race as a concept).
“White Americans lump themselves together without any help from me. They are the ones who created a society and a culture based on skin colour.”
you’re doing it again abagond. you’re making a hasty generalization that stereotypes white people. you’re saying that because whites in the past did something, automatically all whites are still like this, and can be judged based on those past actions. not all white people support a color-based society, and white people are not responsible for what happened in history. and even more importantly, not all white people living NOW equatable to white people in the past. race-relations have changed a whole lot, just in the past twenty years even.
do you really think white americans lump themselves together? because it seems like you’re speaking for them when you make that assumption. you’re making them out to be what they don’t define themselves as, and that is an important thing to note because it is EXACTLY THE SAME THING that i have seen in your arguments against racism.
even more saddening is your willful disregard for the context of history, as if white people are the only racial group to create color-based societies – which does not make it right, but doesn’t either make it mean that to be white is to be racist. racism, prejudice, these are things possible in all humans, regardless of race. i mean, did not the mongols enslave the chinese? or what about the egyptians enslaving the nubians? hell, white people even enslaved each other. the jews, the etruscans, the helots, and so many others throughout history. color-based societies are not something white people created to control all other racial-groups in the world. color-based societies exist because every group has a notion of otherness that leads to fear, misunderstanding, and all the other evils to which racism owes its existence.
to make sense to white people about racism, you need to lose the “white” and start talking to them as PEOPLE. as a jew, you don’t need religion or god to understand us. you can understand us just fine by using humanity. we’re the same as you, only we seem different on the outside.
as much as you want to have an honest discussion about race, i don’t you will ever be able to if you keep going around thinking almost all white people are racist. all you’re doing is creating more prejudice by spreading yours around and throwing your own preconceptions or past-experiences onto them, as if they are the same as everyone else. it’s an intellectually disingenuous way to operate, and in the end, morally vacuous.
LikeLike
I disagree about the test. One of the strange things about that test is that even once you understand how it works it is hard to beat. Malcolm Gladwell found a way to beat it, but aside from tricks like that most people cannot change their score. Because it is based on subconscious reactions, not on something you can control.
LikeLike
Zek:
I will answer the rest of your comment, but first I must run some errands. So do not think I have forgotten.
LikeLike
Zek:
I know that white people like to say they are individuals, that they are all different. They hate it when you call them white or racist or make general statements based on their skin colour. Yet they are the ones who apply the One Drop Rule to people, they are the ones who draw the colour lines in society.
They want to be white but they do not want to be called white. Just like they want to be racist but not want to be called it.
Yes there has been progress: whites no longer use whips and chains like they did to force blacks to work for free. There has even been huge progress in the past 50 years. But that does not necessarily mean racism has completely disappeared. The laws have changed way faster than people’s hearts.
Most white people no longer seem to hate blacks – they are not skinhead racists – but they most certainly do look down on them, seeing them as lesser beings. Some whites just drip with contempt.
This is not just some “hasty generalization” that I have come to. Hardly. My mother brought me up to be colour-blind, so I have had to learn the hard way what white people are like.
LikeLike
Zek said:
“color-based societies are not something white people created to control all other racial-groups in the world. color-based societies exist because every group has a notion of otherness that leads to fear, misunderstanding, and all the other evils to which racism owes its existence.”
Wrong.
First, through most of history race was not used to define “otherness” – language, religion and country were instead. So it is not as natural or common as you seem to think.
More on that here:
Second, the reason colour was used to define otherness in America had nothing to do with fear and misunderstanding. Hardly. It had everything to do with excusing the crimes of whites: robbing the red man of his land and the black man of his freedom and labour.
More on that here:
LikeLike
@abagond: well, we’ll have to disagree about the test then. because from my own scores, and those of my friends (and even a few classmates) it seems that the test has a flawed process. it bases off of subconscious reactions, but the method to collecting this data is somewhat poorly constructed, reflected in the heavy slant of racism prevalent in all the results i’ve seen so far from everyone i’ve showed the test to. this makes me think that the test-creators had hidden assumptions behind the experiment, similar to how agassiz let his own preconceptions influence how he measured and categorized human skulls. just because something is a test, or is said to be scientific, does not mean that is free from racism or error.
“They want to be white but they do not want to be called white. Just like they want to be racist but not want to be called it.”
do you really have such a low opinion of whites that you’ll just carte blanche assume that all white people want to be racist? at this point i have to question how much you actually mean the things you are saying here. not only are you stereotyping, you’re just being out&out racist at this point.
this leads me to my next thought: if you truly think white people are racist – and want to be racist – then what other generalizations can we make about the different races?
let’s see: “all latinos speaking spanish.” “all black people are good at sports.” “all jews have money.” “all native americans have a casino.” “all asians are good at math/science.”
really abagond, for someone who writes about race as much as you do, it’s almost laughable that you’d actually think that white people – alone of all arbitrary identities constructed around skin-color – are inherently racist. oh, but they don’t want to be seen. they’re ninja racists…
“Wrong.
First, through most of history race was not used to define “otherness” – language, religion and country were instead. So it is not as natural or common as you seem to think.”
you misinterpreted what i wrote. i meant that every culture has a concept of otherness, and while race is a relatively new form of defining “other” (because before people we’re relatively isolated from one another) it is not that young anymore. certainly not in comparison to how much we’ve changed. and my examples from cultures that practiced this are actually something you should consider. for instance, the egyptians, in their hieroglyphics, always depicted themselves as lighter-skinned (despite the fact that they weren’t) and the nubians as darker-skinned. isn’t that curious? or take the indians; the aryan invasion that supplanted the dravidian tribes of the indus valley, and is another example of a color-based (and class-based) society. and let’s not forget, of course, the infamous arab-slave trade, which i know you’ve mentioned as a cop-out white people use to make their own racism okay via context. (but since the other examples also exist, that kinda puts a hole in your theory there, doesn’t it?)
but nonetheless, when i was talking about common, i was talking about the concept of otherness. race is a contrived identity, not a real division. in fact, most identities are contrived – that is to say they are made up in people’s minds – such as nation, religion, culture, etc. otherness is a concept most groups have, a way of distinguishing between “us” and… everybody else. (aka “them”.)
and the reason for color in america was not really what i was talking about. you kind of derailed my comment a bit there. i was talking about mankind in general, and specifically pointing out the flaws in your prejudicial attitude towards white people.
however, i won’t deny the existence of racism, and how powerful a factor it is in many parts of the world. (latin america comes to mind most prominently.) my main disagreement is its prevalence in the usa among “white people”, and the underlying assumptions this had led you to make about them.
nonetheless, it appears we will have to disagree, because i already have a feeling that this will be a contentious topic even after true equality has been achieved for hundreds of years. even then someone (white, black, brown, etc) will raise the cry of racism, though race itself does not exist.
LikeLike
Zek:
1. Sorry, I misunderstood you about otherness, race and history. We seem to pretty much agree on that (except about the Arab trader thing).
2. Perhaps that IAT test has racist underpinnings, like you said, but that it gives unexpected results is not a good reason to dismiss it. Anything but.
3. Racism is not inherent to whites, it is cultural. Racism became a part of American culture to excuse taking land from the American Indians and keeping blacks as slaves. It has not been completely uprooted. It is very hard to avoid. It still functions by helping whites to live with the unfair advantages they get because of race.
Whites will say “What advantages?” because they take most of them for granted. But most whites know, for example, that if their parents were black then most likely they would wind up going to a crappy school that would limit their future. And that being black makes it harder to find work and a nice place to live.
For any white person who thinks racism is over – or that affirmative action gives blacks an unfair advantage, that reverse racism is a serious thing – let him put a black-sounding name on his resume and see how far that gets him.
LikeLike
“for instance, the egyptians, in their hieroglyphics, always depicted themselves as lighter-skinned (despite the fact that they weren’t) and the nubians as darker-skinned”
The Egyptians employed a system of symbolic colours in their art. The depictions of Nubian are just that depictions. Blacks in Africa come in various shades and the wall paintings and various other arts depict this. If you look at statuary of Pharoahs through the 1st to 6th dynasties for example, many of them have distinct Africoid features.
The word for Egypt, Kmt, or Kemet roughly translates into the Black Land. According to some, it translates into The Land of the Blacks. The colour black was highly significant in that it represented death and resurrection much like the the precious soil along the nile(innundation). There wasn’t any nefarious reasons for depicting the Nubians as darker. One of their most important gods Osiris was depicted as black. If anything, they probably revered the Nubians for the most part as Osiris is said to have originated in Nubia.
The 25th dynasty was Nubian. Tarharqa came to the aid of Jerusalem and prevented their total annihilation at the hands of the Assyrians(who were known for the utter destruction of whole areas and societies which would not bow to their rule such as the kingdom of Judah). There would be no Judaism and by extension Christianity and Islam would not have existed if not for this pharoah. He was depicted as a Nubian in all his statuary.
LikeLike
The more blogs I read on this site the more I want to lump all blacks into the “all blacks are racist” category. This entire blog does more to undo any thoughts of fairness and equality I felt with black people.
I am now suspect of black people and their kindnesses and friendships with me. Are they really fooling me? Do they really think I am a dumb white person even when they tell me I am one of their best friends?
Thanks for setting back my perceptions of blacks 43 years. I now am suspect and untrusting of anyone with at least 1% black blood.. thanks, thanks again! Brilliant blog you have here -inspiring!
LikeLike
This entire blog does more to undo any thoughts of fairness and equality I felt with black people.
Only a weak minded individual would let a blog affect their veiws of fairness and equality. People who make such statements never really cared for blacks anyway. My perceptions of whites are based on their hatred for black people that I’ve experienced in real life. All this blog did was confirm that I’m not alone in my experiences.
LikeLike
Marie:
By your line of reasoning I should judge ALL WHITES based on what SOME WHITES say here. Does that make sense?
LikeLike
Sense? It’s something these folks lack.
LikeLike
This entire blog does more to undo any thoughts of fairness and equality I felt with black people.
You probably never had a sense of fairness and equality to begin with, unless the blacks you know presented themselves as harmless and not a threat to you whiteness. When people discuss racism and its impact on their life, you are ready to jettison this sense of fairness and equality. That speaks to your nature, not any one else.
LikeLike
Some folks are so thick it beggars belief!
LikeLike
Sorry, just to clarify,was referring to anyone reading a blog and questioning friendships based on a few comments. Said friend(s) who have never given one reason to question their loyalty in the first place. Get a grip.
SMDH
LikeLike
Ah, so lumping all blacks into the same skewed lens I have read on this site is unfair to all blacks?
From what I’ve read abagond’s blog posts lump all or the majority of whites into the same mold she sees them fitting into – racist, deluded about their own racism, a sense of entitlement, out of touch with reality (rather the black reality) and so on.
My original statement was sarcastic. Friendships are proven over time by their words and deeds. And a racially negative and biased blog won’t change my friendships, but they will bring up certain talking points I’d like clarified since it seems that a heck of a lot of black people have such a low opinion of white people.
With that said I do believe fundamentally that blacks think whites judge them on a regular basis and see them as less than equal. And that’s just straight up ignorant and a heck of a lot more biased than ANYTHING I’ve ever seen come out of the mouths or actions of my white family and white friends.
It must be soooo hard for blacks to believe that whites don’t see skin color but see the person for who they are – probably because it looks like blacks don’t see white people as anything but post-confederate slave owner wannabes who have an agenda to keep the black race in the have-not category. There is no such uber plot – people have no time to spend conspiring against blacks between soccer practice and hamburger helper…. sorry, but whites just don’t give a care – juniors snot nose is just more important.
Just curious though …. how can people live with so much hate toward others? Doesn’t it erode your sense of personal happiness?
LikeLike
This website is full of hatred by the author him/herself and it’s bloggers. Statement are analyzed so deeply that they are misinterpreted, such as “The Barbara Bush Award for Deluded Whiteness”. What Barbara Bush meant is exactly what the words mean let me help you with comprehension:
1. “Almost everyone I’ve talked to says, “We’re going to move to Houston.”
Meaning: This means people do not want to go back to the community, instead move to Houston.
2. “What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.”
Meaning: The people she talked to appreciate what the people of Texas/ Houston were doing for them, something Louisiana / New Orleans were not doing for their people. (However, the state should have been. In fact the state should have had better preventative measures for hurricanes and flooding.)
3. “And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them”.
Meaning: They are being taken care of, something they have struggled to do before the flooding.
Society needs to stop “pussy-footing” around the facts. Stop trying to protect everyone’s feelings. This is called enabling. We need to be straight forward and honest with others. It is how people say things that can cause harm.
Have you ever wondered why a psychologist doesn’t tell their patients what they want to hear? They are straight forward with them.
The individuals who wanted to relocate to Houston wanted to be taken care of because it is survival- something we ALL need. But if we enable too much, they will never learn to try to help themselves.
We live in a country that believes we can CHANGE underprivileged people, when in fact, we cannot! THEY HAVE TO CHANGE THEMSELVES!
We can provide, but cannot make them provide for themselves.
We can give them a good education, but we cannot make them try to learn.
We can help them with opportunity but cannot make them act on it.
We can influence but cannot change what they have lived.
ONLY THEY CAN!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Patriot News II and commented:
“And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckles slightly)–this is working very well for them.”
LikeLike