Suicide Survey Is No Surprise to Her
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The article “Study Says Blacks, Women May Be Concealing Suicide” (Dec. 28) did not come as a surprise. As a highly educated 62-year-old woman, I have been virtually unemployed for more than 20 years. I raised children and then, I thought, it would be my turn to get an education and make money and feel worthwhile. Nobody ever took me seriously.
No one would suspect that this seemingly jolly and perky gray-haired clown contemplates suicide every now and again. I am a hospital volunteer and I work long hours at a hospice. It is wonderful that I have something to do, but when it comes time for Social Security, I will get the minimum. But worst of all, I’ll get no respect. I will be a faceless elderly woman who never did anything except “be a housewife.” By society’s standards, that’s worth nothing.
People commit suicide because they feel they no longer matter to anyone.
When we see 25-year-old women replacing seasoned middle-aged women on television, what are we to think?
When black people see mostly white people on television, what are they to think?
They think just as it really is: The world is made for young, white people. If you don’t fall into this category, you do not count.
CECELIA MONTROSE
Los Angeles
