The Perpetual Practice of True Victimhood
By The Public Sphere | September 2008 | 1 Comment »In the September 15, 2008 Los Angeles Times, Gregory Rodriguez reminds us that U.S. politics has a love-hate relationship with the idea of victimhood. People, like Rush Limbaugh, criticize the ideas of “victimhood” when an ethic of proper treatment for victims leads to increased civil rights for African Americans. At the same time, John McCain loves playing his running mate as the victim of a misogynistic news media if he thinks it will solidify the base behind him. How does the U.S. sustain the tension between hating other people’s claims to victimization but loving our own?
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I suggest you read the book whose title you have “borrowed” for your article, “The Cult of True Victimhood” by political science professor Alyson M. Cole.