Equal Humanity Is The Core
- By Marianne Rothmann
In moments of public tragedy, voices often rise in unison to express shock, sorrow, and moral concern. These moments matter. Condemning violence and acknowledging pain are necessary responses to human suffering. Yet what many people around the world are increasingly questioning is not the act of mourning itself, but the patterns behind it.
Human suffering is not rare. It is constant, widespread, and deeply uneven in how it is acknowledged. Every day, people live through war, displacement, poverty, fear, and loss. Children grow up amid instability and trauma. These realities are well known, widely reported, and long-standing. Still, collective outrage and empathy tend to surface most visibly only after certain events, while other forms of suffering continue largely unnoticed.
This inconsistency creates a quiet but profound unease. When compassion appears selectively—intense in some moments, muted or absent in others—it raises an uncomfortable question: whose pain counts, and why?
The issue is not about denying anyone grief or minimizing any act of violence. It is about recognizing that grief loses moral strength when it is applied unevenly. When some tragedies command global attention while others remain background noise, empathy begins to resemble preference rather than principle.
Many people sense that society does not lack awareness; it lacks follow-through. We speak when tragedy is undeniable, but we struggle to sustain concern before, during, and after crises that do not dominate headlines. Reflection comes late, often after damage has already been done.
This is where equal humanity becomes essential. Equal humanity insists that suffering is not ranked, that a life does not gain value through proximity, familiarity, or political comfort. It asks us to resist the quiet normalization of pain simply because it is distant, prolonged, or inconvenient.
Equal humanity does not erase differences or histories. It does not deny that certain groups face specific forms of hatred or violence. Instead, it holds a firm ethical line: no form of dehumanization is acceptable, and none should be met with indifference.
A society that responds only when tragedy forces attention is not fully engaging with its moral responsibility. True care is not reactive alone—it is sustained, reflective, and consistent. It requires listening even when there is no spotlight and responding even when there is no reward.
Equal humanity is not an abstract ideal. It is a daily measure of integrity. It is reflected in whose suffering we name, whose stories we amplify, and whose pain we refuse to overlook.
Without equal humanity at the center, our expressions of grief risk becoming momentary, our outrage selective, and our calls for healing incomplete.
Equal humanity is the core.
Without it, nothing we say truly holds.
