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Analysis Of Victim Mentality In Black Boy And The Other Wes Moore By Eric Thomas

1923 Words8 Pages

Eric Thomas, a motivational speaker who grew up without a father in the streets of Detroit, discusses his experience with the victim mentality: “Bottom line, I removed myself from the victim mentality and took control of my life. I'm not just going to take responsibility for the success in my life - I'm going to take responsibility for the failures in my life. When you're willing to accept that you're the problem, you immediately become the solution.” Eric is a living witness that if you detach the victim mentality from your mind, and act as a victor, rather than a victim, success will soon follow. This recurring pattern is seen in books like, The Other Wes Moore, a book about two kids both named Wes Moore, who grew up without fathers and lived …show more content…

It is natural for humans to take the path of least resistance. However, if it continues to become the norm, how will we ever break free from the prejudice that is present in our society. The way in which we respond will determine how it will affect us. There can be one of two paths taken: stand idle and continue to allow unjust behavior be afflicted onto us, or step up for what is right, settling for nothing less than equality. As time progresses, we will begin to understand the quality of which we are being treated in comparison to others, and will take action for the benefit of the future. This issue of victim mentality is extremely relevant in today's society, in which we see celebrity icons like Kanye West agreeing with Candace Owens who vents about victim mentality: “I can guarantee what you’re seeing happening is victim mentality versus victor mentality ... Victim mentality is not cool. I don’t know why people like being oppressed. It’s the weirdest thing I ever heard: “I love oppression. We’re oppressed. 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow.” Which, by the way, none of you guys lived through. Your grandparents did”. Candance to an extent does have a point in that we did not physically go through slavery and we tend to leach on what our ancestors had to endure. There is nothing wrong with that, however if you want to grow as a human, it is imperative to not let the past dictate how the future will pan out. Let’s stop standing idol and start taking control. Let’s stop blaming other and start

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The Other Wes Moore is an interesting nonfiction novel about the challenges and adversities that children growing up in poor inner city communities face. The author, Wes Moore, examines how the support systems and role models a child has when growing up are crucial to their development. He explain that while the inner city children have control over their own decisions, the influences around them all put pressure on them to make the wrong choices. There was not a huge difference in the lives of Wes and Moore while they were growing up, and the end result of their lives could have easily been reversed if it had not been for the intervention of Moore’s mentors and family. Moore was on a bad path as he was growing up, but the intervention of

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