Don't Judge Me

In life people are faced with unforeseen circumstances. Misfortune events are a part of life. To judge one based upon these situations is unwillingly wrong. The saying, “to assume makes an ass out of you and me” is proven true. If you do not firsthand know the troubles one is witnessing, then do not cast your judgment their way. In “Black and on Welfare: What You Don’t Know about Single-Parent Women” by Sandra Golden, many of the black females interviewed were prejudged by their self-sufficiency coaches and caseworkers without knowledgeable evidence. These welfare recipients were deemed uneducated, unmotivated, unskilled, and responsible for their current state. They were characterized and stereotyped based upon their race. Although there are certain cases in which a person is not trying hard enough on their own to make ends meet and are looking for an easy alternative in life, there are people who are truly going through a tough time and need a helping hand through this tough time in their life. These caseworkers who prejudge these African-American females create an issue that eventually stops the females who really need the help from asking for the assistance they need for their families. In the long run this hurts the black families. They fall further and further behind financially and as a result find themselves in an even worse state. If the caseworkers and self-sufficiency coaches were not so judgmental it would create less hesitation among the environment, allowing the opportunity for those who truly need help, to acquire help before times get too tough. Like Sandra Golden states, although the caseworkers are overworked and have high case loads, they must be required to recognize and respect the people they serve. Obtaining they job they have is a privilege, not a hierarchy and they have no authority to look down upon the people they help and treat them disrespectful. They never know, one day they may be in the same position as the people they serve.
- Brittney L. Echols