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Don’t label me

March 3, 2008

No one likes to be labeled. When people attach a label to something it is hard to think of that object, person, or situation in other terms. Labels like short, fat and stupid are hard to shake.

Labeling in class terms— upper, rich, lower, poor, homeless — can isolate a person or a group and serve as an excuse to dismiss them. “You don’t care about anything but money because you are rich or you must be lazy because you are poor.”

But society uses labels because they are convenient and sometimes necessary. We must put a name to a problem or conflict. We speak of “war, prejudice, poverty…” to give meaning and shape to the world around us.

Once labeled it can be hard to see yourself as anything else. I had a teacher in first grade who told me I didn’t have to do my homework because I wasn’t smart enough to complete it.
I remember the teacher telling me that my drawing of a flower was ugly because it looked like a scribble.

I remember having issues with completing homework until the third grade when the principal told my mother that if she didn’t make me do my homework I would be on drugs before I was 13. My parents pulled me out of the school and enrolled me in another one.

I had gone by my middle name until then but when I changed schools I wanted to use my first name. A new name for a new start. Once the “stupid” label was gone, I began to succeed in the classroom.

Now I know I’m not a genius rocket scientist, but I’m not stupid either.

So these labels that we use can confine us. They can limit the way we think about ourselves and those around us.

Over the next few weeks I hope to dispel some of the labels associated with the poor, those living in poverty or the working classes. Strip away the labels and what can we learn from each other? How can we look beyond surface appearances and really see what animates, brings joy to, oppresses, and challenges us as individuals and not just economic categories?

To do this, I plan to document with photos and sound the lives of those who live at the lake, putting a face to the numbers and the labels. If you have a story you want to share about making ends meet or being priced out of Lake Tahoe please email me, or leave a comment.

Also don’t forget to check back here for updates.

Related posts: [ Lessons from the 7-11 ] [ I Get Why I Don’t Get It ] [ Understanding diversity ] [ Basin lacks workforce housing ] [ Promise to make Tahoe better ] 

Written by Liz Margerum · Filed Under People 

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