⚖ The Advocate
Identity & Dignity

People Like You Don't Deserve Better

A person is dehumanised and told they are unworthy of fair treatment based on class or gender

Free intermediate 8 minutes
The Situation

What They Said

“People like you don't deserve better. You should be happy with what you get.”
This phrase is used by employers, landlords, or authority figures to justify giving inferior conditions, pay, or treatment to someone based on their perceived social class, gender, race, or background.
Your Response

How to Respond

With respect, no person — including you — has the legal authority to determine that I deserve less than fair treatment. Section 10 of the Constitution states I have inherent dignity, and PEPUDA prohibits unfair discrimination on grounds including social origin, gender, and race. What I deserve is equal protection of the law, and that is exactly what I am entitled to claim.
Tone: calm, factual, non-confrontational
The Fallacy

Dehumanisation / Stereotyping

This argument groups an individual into a category ('people like you') and then assigns that category an inferior level of deserving. This is both a logical fallacy — individuals cannot be validly judged solely by a group attribute — and a form of dehumanisation, which strips away individual worth. It also assumes the speaker has the authority to determine what another human being 'deserves,' which is not a power any individual or institution holds under constitutional law.

What the Law Says

Your Legal Foundation

Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 4 of 2000 (PEPUDA)
Section 7 — Prohibition of Hate Speech
“No person may publish, propagate, advocate or communicate words based on one or more of the prohibited grounds, against any person, that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to be hurtful; be harmful or to incite harm; promote or propagate hatred.”
Telling someone they do not deserve equal treatment because of who they are may constitute a form of harmful and degrading speech prohibited under PEPUDA.
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
Section 9(3) — Equality — Prohibited Grounds
“The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.”
No person may be told they deserve less or be given inferior treatment on the basis of any listed ground — this applies to private parties through PEPUDA.
What Scripture Says

God's Word on This

Genesis 1:27 (NET)
“God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.”
Every human being — regardless of class, gender, or origin — bears the image of God, which is the foundation of equal and inherent worth.
James 2:1 (NET)
“My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.”
Scripture explicitly forbids the kind of partiality that assigns different worth to people based on social status — it is incompatible with genuine faith.
Practice

Drill Prompt

They say: 'We do not deal with people from your background the same way — you should know your level.' You respond by: Calmly naming the discrimination, citing PEPUDA's prohibition on unfair discrimination based on social origin, and stating your intention to pursue the matter if it continues.

What They'll Say Next

Blindside Counter-Arguments

After you give your response, they may push back. Here is how to handle each counter-argument.

They might say: “I can choose who I do business with — I am not discriminating.”
Your response: PEPUDA prohibits unfair discrimination in the provision of goods and services, including refusal of service. The freedom to choose is not the freedom to discriminate on prohibited grounds.
Legal basis: PEPUDA Section 9 — Prohibition of unfair discrimination in the provision of goods and services
They might say: “I never said anything illegal — I was just giving you advice about reality.”
Your response: Words that communicate that a person does not deserve equal treatment because of who they are can constitute harmful speech under PEPUDA. Intent does not determine impact, and the law looks at the reasonable effect of the words.
Legal basis: PEPUDA Section 7 — Prohibition of hate speech and harmful communication
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