Not that my opinion matters, but this is The Pit so…
I think bringing the fact that someone has relatives or close friends that are part of a maligned minority into a general fact based discussion involving said minority is not usually particularly useful.
It reminds be of a Tedx talk a woman gave about women. A very common refrain among people trying to get sympathy or empathy towards women is to state that they are someone’s (i.e. a man’s) sister, mother, daughter etc. The talker questioned why we have to even make these associations to humanize women. Women are already human. It doesn’t matter if they are or are not some man’s relative. They are people. They demand just as much dignity, respect, and support as men without having to resort to appeals to personal feelings or paternalism.
While it’s not bad for a man to care about issue involving girls, the fact they have to explain or justify their caring by mentioning their daughter feels a little shitty to me. While it might be common and expected doesn’t make it great IMO.
A person who really cares about Alzheimers just for it’s own sake might be seen as, at best, a little odd, but if it’s because their parent suffers (or suffered) from it then that’s totally a sufficient and acceptable explanation for pretty much anyone.
A common question asked to Noam Chomsky is why he cares so much about social issues compared to linguistics. He shouldn’t need a better reason other than common humanity to care about them, but apparently that is not enough for some people.
Many people feel, at best, suspicious about pure altruism because it reflects badly on them and they get defensive since they can’t or don’t see themselves doing it. However, they often CAN see themselves doing something if it’s to help or honor themselves or someone they care(d) about.
I guess since humanity is generally shitty that people require (deeply) personal reasons to (really) care about anything in particular I should not be surprised. People generally only care about things that directly affect, or have affected, themselves or their close family and friends, or even worse, people are not ALLOWED to be seen to care as much otherwise, as in, it’s less socially acceptable.
Not that I’m personally much better or anything. We all suck, myself more than most.