I was in a training class yesterday where a distinction was made between dignity and respect. It was suggested that the two are often confused. The instructor defined dignity as an inherent trait that we are all born with while respect has to be earned, yet, he continued, we use the terms interchangeably.
I objected that as a descendant of a people forced into chattel slavery, kidnapped, sold, raped, torn apart from our babies and our families, tortured in unmentionable ways for more than 400 years, I cannot subscribe to any notion that people who deny others the very basics of humanity, are born with dignity. The two just don't reconcile...
Dignity is not inherent. There is not "a little good" in all of us as we tell one another to try and understand the depths of depravity of those who commit sins and unthinkable acts against others. Some of us are just pure evil and have ZERO regard for dignity, ours or that of others.
The instructor was taken aback by the comment. I'm not sure he has seriously contemplated his response, that he "considers people individually", or use of such content in his training. He is a Black man, a Morehouse Man. I am surprised he had not considered this distinction himself. I will consider that perhaps I am conflating dignity with morality, but either way, neither is an inherent trait. There is not good and honor in everyone...
What say ye'?
James Baldwin speaks:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1241583719856549?mibextid=9drbnH
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