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From: Lou Heite
Date: 09 Oct 2006
Time: 10:54:26 -0500
Remote Name: 24.237.249.158
Hello, Alexis, You ask how to relieve oppression of people who stutter. As someone who remembers the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, and even the intense social conformity of the years that led up to it, I can only say, "Get involved! Ask questions! Challenge the accepted norm, and don't mistake excuses for answers!" Many colleges now offer courses on discrimination, bully prevention, the psychology of oppression, and the history of civil and human rights, both in the US and elsewhere. If you can possibly swing it, take one. Then try to apply what you learn to your daily life. The characteristics of oppression and dominance are pretty much the same no matter what the focus of the stigmatization might be. Become active in your community's tolerance program. Subscribe to the magazine, "Teaching Tolerance" and read it. Challenge the institutions to which you belong to open up to those who stand outside the group. Examine your life and be sure that you know where your own prejudices are, because believe me, you - we all - have some! And when you are out in the working world, try to help others to develop tolerance also. Sorry I don't have a fast answer, but changing patterns of thought, especially patterns that pervade a whole culture, is slow, slow, slow. It is people like yourself offer hope that we can some day get near the goal. Good luck, Lou Heite