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" We see the same rationalization and avoidance in the face of large-scale or community trauma-war, famine, natural disasters, school shootings, the transgenerational impact of slavery. The privileged group turns their gaze from the pain. ‘Look how far they’ve come’, in the face of cultural genocide, ‘They need to assimilate”, in the face of trauma, “Isn’t it great that they are resilient?’ It is so easy for us to create an ‘other.’ Us-and-them is deeply ingrained into our neurobiology; it’s what makes connectedness a double-edged sword. We are strongly connected to our clan, but not so much to other clans-we compete for limited resources. "

Bruce D. Perry , What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing


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Bruce D. Perry quote : We see the same rationalization and avoidance in the face of large-scale or community trauma-war, famine, natural disasters, school shootings, the transgenerational impact of slavery. The privileged group turns their gaze from the pain. ‘Look how far they’ve come’, in the face of cultural genocide, ‘They need to assimilate”, in the face of trauma, “Isn’t it great that they are resilient?’ It is so easy for us to create an ‘other.’ Us-and-them is deeply ingrained into our neurobiology; it’s what makes connectedness a double-edged sword. We are strongly connected to our clan, but not so much to other clans-we compete for limited resources.