African american Quote by Wendy Griswold
““He (Zerubavel) draws attention to the social influences on perception (what people notice), attention and concern (what people care about), classification (how people categorize things, meanings, memories - what to remember, what to forget, how to feel about it), and time (how people place things in the past or future). For example, many African Americans regard slavery as a relatively recent "cultural trauma" having pressing contemporary meaning, while many white Americans see it as a long past institution having little relevance (Eyerman 2002).””
About This Quote
Social context shapes what we notice, care about, how we categorize experiences, and how we temporally locate events, leading to divergent collective memories.
In simple terms: Perception and memory are socially constructed.
Key Takeaway
Shared narratives dictate relevance of past events.
Themes
social cognition
collective memory
cultural trauma
historical perception
identity
Mood
reflective
critical
empathetic
Type
analytical
observational
theoretical
When to use this quote
- historical education
- public policy debates
- media framing
- community commemorations
Key Concepts
attention
classification
temporal framing
cultural meaning
Practical Applications
- designing inclusive curricula
- informing reconciliation initiatives
Questions to Reflect On
- How do differing cultural narratives affect policy decisions?
- What mechanisms can bridge divergent collective memories?
A Different Perspective
Some argue that objective facts can override socially constructed narratives, but perception remains filtered through cultural lenses.
