Читать книгу Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice - Prospera Tedam - Страница 41

Writing strongly about difference, Audre Lorde (1984) argued that there are very real differences between us in terms of race, age and sex. She argues that these differences between us are not separating us, but rather the separation comes from how we respond to those differences. Lorde suggests that we usually respond to differences in three main ways: 1) we ignore the differences; 2) if the differences are difficult to ignore, then we copy them if we think they are dominant, or 3) we destroy them if we believe they are subordinate. It is our refusal to recognise the value of these differences and to examine the distortions that result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behaviour and expectation that lead to differentiation (Lorde, 1984, p115). This strong view by Lorde is a useful starting point in trying to understand that the refusal to recognise difference is what results in discrimination and oppression of people, leading to ‘othering’.