How the Need to Feel Special Can Block Empathy in Dealings with Different People

Many people seek certainties and subscribe to the notion that people get what they deserve in life. This is a main factor in biases and why people show major difficulty in truly seeing, hearing and believing those whom they consider to be different from them. So many people deny, downplay, overlook or participate (actively or passively) in the systemic harm of others because they are not affected by certain difficult situations. They think their ability to escape a particular problem means they are above reproach, “more blessed” or “somehow special.” What it often signals is the erosion of empathy.

White women do not have to suffer because of racism (since whiteness benefits from privileges based on race), but often find themselves harmed by sexism on personal and political levels. Their experiences with domestic abuse and public assaults (mostly by men in authority or a relationship) often are not readily believed or minimized by others. This may force them to face the reality of how their approaches to dealing with racism are the same people take in dealing when white women are victimized based on gender.

Black and brown men who support male chauvinism and the double standards promoted by thinking men are superior to women and deserve privileges, still find themselves subjected to…