Carriers [of despair] in the world family system abound in groups that are subordinated and disenfranchised: women, people of color, the poor, homosexuals, the elderly, the disabled. [Emotional] bystanders tend to keep the system going, creating the long shadow that the society prefers to ignore — until some group stands up and: "Look! You call this a democratic society of equals? You haven't been feeling the pain of women, people of color, the disabled." These uprisings are guided by the dark emotions of despair, fear, and grief, as well as anger — emotions that demand that social conditions change to create a more livable, less pain-inflicting environment.

Miriam Greenspan, Healing Through the Dark Emotions