WHAT DO YOU SEE AND WHAT DO YOU FEEL?

The above image is borrowed from

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

and I have no claim to it, but thought it might be a useful tool for self reflection, bias and/or projection.

Do you like the photo or not?

If you have conflicting  emotions, does knowing that the photo is associated with Vietnam do anything to your perception?

How about if you discovered one or all of the men were subsequently  killed in combat?

How about if you knew their ages?

If you knew how many they killed or tried to kill?

If you knew who wrote them letters from home?

Etc., etc., etc…

 

I for one find the photo disconcerting, horrifying, sad and a little nauseating.

I cannot see it as endearing, although their family might, especially if they died in battle.

I cannot see it proudly, as a fiancee or mother might.

The longer I think about it, the sadder I feel.

 

….How would you see it if you were a MAGA; an NRA member; a Quaker; a Red Cross Worker; a Christian Nationalist; a North Vietnamese, etc.?  Would a woman see it differently than a man?

How would Trump see it?