A quick lesson in bigotry and tolerance
May. 1st, 2009 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
x_makerWhile not every adult using this journal system is part of the educational staff, I felt a few recent comments deserved looking over.
First, assume you came across a message with this basic content:
Mutants are scum. Every one of them. We don't need them, and the moment one steps out of line we have every right to visit physical violence and assault on them, and be applauded for it. After all, just because a few are bad, that's obviously reflective of the whole.
Most of you - being reasonably rational and intelligent people - would dismiss this as a raving lunatic racist, akin to your average Friends of Humanity protestor or internet troll.
But replace the term "Mutants" with "Humans". Imagine someone - let's say someone on this journal system - was espousing hatred and violence towards humans. After all, there's a lot of them out there who hate us, right? And they discriminate against us in ways both obvious and subtle. So that must mean it's okay to hate all of them, right?
Wrong.
It's wrong, and every single one of us with a functioning brain stem knows it.
Further distillation: replace the subject with, say, "Men".
Oh, then it becomes a valid complaint? Something to be ignored or waved off? No. It's bigotry and hatred all the same. There's a line between valid emotional venting and outright hate speech, and lately it's not only been crossed, but crossed in a manner akin to the Germany/Belgium border in 1914.
To the students: A lot of you have had direct interaction with jerks, and discrimination, and abuse, and hatred. But you haven't turned around and become that kind of hate-fueled monster yourself. That kind of self-control and enlightenment is to be commended. For whatever stumbling blocks you all might encounter as individuals, none of you have become the kind of reactive bigots that give humanity a reason to hate and fear mutants.
To Jennie: You, however, have achieved EPIC FAIL at common decency and rational thought. Maybe the common denominator in all your failed relationships is you.
First, assume you came across a message with this basic content:
Mutants are scum. Every one of them. We don't need them, and the moment one steps out of line we have every right to visit physical violence and assault on them, and be applauded for it. After all, just because a few are bad, that's obviously reflective of the whole.
Most of you - being reasonably rational and intelligent people - would dismiss this as a raving lunatic racist, akin to your average Friends of Humanity protestor or internet troll.
But replace the term "Mutants" with "Humans". Imagine someone - let's say someone on this journal system - was espousing hatred and violence towards humans. After all, there's a lot of them out there who hate us, right? And they discriminate against us in ways both obvious and subtle. So that must mean it's okay to hate all of them, right?
Wrong.
It's wrong, and every single one of us with a functioning brain stem knows it.
Further distillation: replace the subject with, say, "Men".
Oh, then it becomes a valid complaint? Something to be ignored or waved off? No. It's bigotry and hatred all the same. There's a line between valid emotional venting and outright hate speech, and lately it's not only been crossed, but crossed in a manner akin to the Germany/Belgium border in 1914.
To the students: A lot of you have had direct interaction with jerks, and discrimination, and abuse, and hatred. But you haven't turned around and become that kind of hate-fueled monster yourself. That kind of self-control and enlightenment is to be commended. For whatever stumbling blocks you all might encounter as individuals, none of you have become the kind of reactive bigots that give humanity a reason to hate and fear mutants.
To Jennie: You, however, have achieved EPIC FAIL at common decency and rational thought. Maybe the common denominator in all your failed relationships is you.
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 12:05 am (UTC)Don't mind me, Fred. It's a well-accepted fact that I am a bitch. These past couple months I thought that I could have something nice. But people like me don't get to have nice things. People around here like to remind me of that from time to time.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 12:17 am (UTC)And I don't think the people (we're, uh, are we talking about Mr. Forge here?) in question wanna give you guff for guff's sake. I just think they're worried about how ya dealt with said douchebag.
And yea: It's Fred.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 12:27 am (UTC)...uh, I'm pretty sure Mr. Ramsay is chemically incapable of getting angry.
Uh, anyway, in the spirit of not maiming everyone's nethers, and not being such a shut in myself, wanna join me for some anesthetic (thank ya spellcheck) later? Corn dogs, grain alcohol, and a Troma Movie Festival I read about in NYC. I could use the distraction myself...
no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 12:38 am (UTC)And in the interest of fairness, I can get angry just as easily as the next guy. I've punched people in anger and the like.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 12:47 am (UTC)Huh.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 12:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 04:44 am (UTC)