For many, social distancing has become a way of life—particularly, as we adhere to safety measures meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, this popular term is not a new one. According to the article below, the origins of social distancing can be traced back to 1831. “By the 1920s, the Social Distance Scale [which measures prejudice by asking participants to describe how comfortable they feel interacting with people of another race] became a social science tool, a reductive attempt to slice the world into ethnic groups, and it’s still in use …”
In other words, social distancing became a way to invoke superiority by class and race.
Although social distancing has taken on a new meaning, it is still offensive for some. For GSON, our new standard for in-person interactions means that we may be PHYSICALLY DISTANT–but, socially, we’re in this TOGETHER!
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