Passing judgement

 Hey y’all. This is old news at this point, but it’s something that still sticks with me.

We all know the stereotypes people throw around. “Most Natives are addicts.” “Black people are thieves.” People take the actions of some and paint an entire group with the same brush.

I dated a man who was in recovery from drug addiction while also struggling with alcoholism. When I defended him, a family member told me, “Once an addict, always an addict.”

That got me thinking.

I struggled with addiction too. My last relapse was three and a half years ago. So if “once an addict, always an addict” is true… then by that logic, I’m still an addict too.

Except suddenly, according to that same person, it was “different” because I’m family.

That’s what bothers me.

We’re so quick to permanently define strangers by the worst chapter of their lives, yet we’ll often make exceptions for the people we know and love.

Recovery doesn’t erase the past, but neither should the past erase the person.

Maybe we should spend less time judging people by who they were and more time recognizing who they’re working to become.


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