After touring Woodlawn,
“Despite her privileged status and her power over enslaved domestic workers, she perceived her life as challenging.”
In my opinion, rather than meeting someone’s perception of their personal challenges with judgment, we need to respond with empathy. It makes sense that she thought her life was challenging. It was challenging! She had seven children die young. She had many financial challenges. She faced heartache and loss.
Were there other people around her who also had challenging lives? Yes! Was it difficult for the enslaved workers? Yes! Admitting that one person had a hard time does not negate that other people may have had a harder time.
A judgment comparison of “your life is so much easier than mine” or “you don’t know how good you’ve got it” is never productive.