Victimization: patterns, causes, and social impacts

England's Financial Systems

Being a Victim

The concept of victimization is very emotionally charged. While almost every person alive has been victimized at some point in his or her life, many resist the victim label. This concept is dramatized in the statement, "No one can make you a victim without your consent." In many ways, this concept is absolutely true. While one might not have control at the actual moment of victimization, one does have control over how one ultimately responds to the violation in question. On the other hand, such a statement simplifies the complex emotional reactions that people have to being victimized, and could make a victim feel an increased amount of shame or personal responsibility about having been victimized. Therefore, it is important to understand that the, in that statement, one is only made a victim if one's self-identity is that of a victim who has no control over a certain area of one's own life.

For example, in "How it Feels to be Colored Me," Zora Neale Hurston talks about large-scale victimization. She discusses the issue of slavery, which is a clear-cut example of people being made unwilling victims. However, she dismisses the idea that the victimization of her ancestors means that she is also a victim. Instead, Hurston declares, "Slavery is the price I paid for civilization, and the choice was not with me." (Hurston). With this statement, Hurston reveals some powerful truths about victimization. First, she makes the point that the changes wrought by victimization are not always solely negative changes. Second, she makes the point that she is not going to feel shame for something over which she had no control. Hurston also explains that she is "not tragically colored." (Hurston). While she does not gloss over the fact that she has been subjected to prejudice and discrimination as a colored woman, Hurston makes it clear that she is not going to allow other people's attitudes to keep her from taking full advantage of what life has to offer her.

Khalil Gabrin makes a similar point in his poem "The Ambitious Violet." He describes a violet who wishes to be a rose, despite being a beautiful and previously content violet. She risks all to become a rose, which is recognized as a greater flower by the flowers in the garden. Though the violet dies as a result of her aspirations, she does not regret them. Instead, she cherishes the idea that she has been able to overcome her natural limitations. This poem is especially meaningful when viewed in the context of race relations. Even in modern times, many people feel as if they are limited because of being born a member of certain races. However, Gabrin's point is that one determines one's own limitations. Obviously, no one is going to be magically transformed into another color, but if people had not aspired to achieve those things that were previously considered impossible for minorities, the United States would still be operated under a Jim Crow system of laws.