I think from the POV of the marginalized it's less about intelligence to get them motivated but assuring them that making move isn't going to put them in a worse situation that they're already in.
There have been plenty of cases of well meaning 'vanguards' moving in to help the 'helpless', doing a piss poor job because for all their smarts they didn't fully understand the situation or the people, shipping out and things fall apart when they aren't there to rule over the improvement.
I think the better thing to do would be to move in, assimilate, understand the situation, then as a person in the in-group of the society use the knowledge of the people to drive the change as a cooperative effort and not as a "Lemme fix it!! I has learnings to do so!!!"
For example, the Franciscans and the Dominicans moved into China with supposedly good intention of spreading the word to poor heathen China. Result, fucked up China in a significant way. Sure China had it's issues already but a foreign influence was the straw that broke the camels back and somehow that makes the fall worse. Furthermore, it turns off the natives to foreign influence cause...well..it fucks shit up. Not to mention that OTHER people see how foreign influence can just jack your shit up so now THEY don't like foreign influence. Making any other well meaning, capable efforts forced to fight against the current.
I know my biggest issue with people talking about marginalized people is the out-group, in-group dynamic. Sure a person can admit that as a person not in the group they understand they don't understand the in-group's pain fully but they want to help but it just props up the wall against outside influence especially if that outside force wants to 'rile things up' for the in-group.
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chiming
no subject
Date: 2010-01-02 01:50 pm (UTC)From:There have been plenty of cases of well meaning 'vanguards' moving in to help the 'helpless', doing a piss poor job because for all their smarts they didn't fully understand the situation or the people, shipping out and things fall apart when they aren't there to rule over the improvement.
I think the better thing to do would be to move in, assimilate, understand the situation, then as a person in the in-group of the society use the knowledge of the people to drive the change as a cooperative effort and not as a "Lemme fix it!! I has learnings to do so!!!"
For example, the Franciscans and the Dominicans moved into China with supposedly good intention of spreading the word to poor heathen China. Result, fucked up China in a significant way. Sure China had it's issues already but a foreign influence was the straw that broke the camels back and somehow that makes the fall worse. Furthermore, it turns off the natives to foreign influence cause...well..it fucks shit up. Not to mention that OTHER people see how foreign influence can just jack your shit up so now THEY don't like foreign influence. Making any other well meaning, capable efforts forced to fight against the current.
I know my biggest issue with people talking about marginalized people is the out-group, in-group dynamic. Sure a person can admit that as a person not in the group they understand they don't understand the in-group's pain fully but they want to help but it just props up the wall against outside influence especially if that outside force wants to 'rile things up' for the in-group.