Explain How To Be Treated Differently By Harry Blackmun

Some may think that in order to treat different people equally, we must give them all the same treatment. In a quote by Harry Blackmun, former US Supreme Court Justice, he said, “In order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.” What did Blackmun mean by this? I believe that Blackmun was trying to say that different people need to be treated differently. Wouldn’t you treat a baby different from an adult? Why is that different than blacks and whites, gays and straights, or disabled people and what the world calls ‘normal’ people. While you wouldn’t treat these types of people as differently as you might treat an adult and a baby, you would still treat them differently. So how might one treat them differently?

While blacks and whites are probably the most similar in ways of treatment, we often find ourselves treating them differently. We must always watch what we say and the way we act around other races. Many people in society today have become hyper sensitive to the race issue. Things such as whether we call someone black or whether we should call them African American are found everywhere. There are also issues about whether people are allowed to have pride in their race. We have to recognize that there are differences in our skin color and histories but we shouldn’t treat someone who is black or white or of any other race …show more content…
Although they should not be treated any differently, depending on the situation it can sometimes be hard for the general population to be accepting of their lifestyle. A person’s choice in lifestyle should not be a reason to treat them differently, but many people in society still struggle in these murky waters. As we come to learn more about these choices it will become easier for those in this community to attain more equality. We should do our best to be accepting of their choices regardless of whether they are in alignment with our own beliefs and