Some likely think I harp on this too much but I am deeply concerned about prejudice and bigotry. There's an old joke that goes...
"I don't like bigots and [insert racial slur here]."
Which, to me, sums up the problem. I know people who contend they aren't prejudiced yet, in almost the same breath, complain about one ethnic group or another. There is a conservative talk show host (Laura Ingraham) who has a bit she calls "But... Monkeys". A "But... Monkey" is someone who says things like, "I like what Obama's doing for the country but... I am opposed to his controlling GM and Chrysler." Or, "Cubans are wonderful people but... they have turned Miami into a place where you must speak Spanish in order to do anything." In other words the "Some of my best friends are [insert ethnic reference here]" crowd.
The question to me is not "Are you prejudiced?" but "How do you control your prejudices?"
And if you do not think your little prejudice matters much, think again. Your prejudices help influence public opinion. Here's an example I ran into...
In order to assess explicit prejudice toward Jews, we directly asked respondents “How much to blame were the Jews for the financial crisis?” with responses falling under five categories: a great deal, a lot, a moderate amount, a little, not at all. Among non-Jewish respondents, a strikingly high 24.6 percent of Americans blamed “the Jews” a moderate amount or more, and 38.4 percent attributed at least some level of blame to the group.
http://bostonreview.net/BR34.3/malhotra_margalit.php
There is much more to this survey and story and I urge you to read it. Especially the comments. Read them with an open mind, divorce yourself from your feelings and truly examine the sentiments expressed.
I have observed similar feelings by minorities against other minorities. Listen to Farrakhan for 15 minutes and you will find his anti-Jewish sentiment. Or ask the random African-American about Korean grocers. Observe the animosity between various ethnic prison gangs.
We often think we are above such things but we aren't. They are constantly at work in the depths of our subconscious. They affect how we view the world and that affects how our elected representatives act in our behalf. It also skews what information we gather and how we assimilate that information. Prejudice distorts the lens through which we examine everything. It is like a pair of glasses that are not quite properly made to your prescription, the distortion is there but it is so subtle that you adapt to it.
Do you think the Supreme Court is as close to infallible as can be expected when it comes to matters of Constitutionality and law? Consider a number of cases where you have disagreed, or agreed, with its decisions.
Dred Scott
Buck v. Bell
Roe v. Wade
I particularly wish to have you consider the Buck v. Bell decision, one in which the court voted 8-1 in favor of sterilization of the mentally handicapped.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_v._Bell
Oliver Wendall Holmes wrote the majority opinion. In it, he wrote the following:
We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call upon the best citizens for their lives. It would be strange if it could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the State for these lesser sacrifices, often not felt to be such by those concerned, in order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence. It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes.
The decision was never overturned. However, due to Skinner v. Oklahoma in 1942, the practice of involuntary sterilization was discouraged.
I came across the above while researching the theory and practice of Eugenics. Which sprung from researching the issue of abortion, which sprung from researching President Obama's commencement address at Notre Dame.
All things are connected, sometimes in very subtle ways.
[1100/1101/970]
A Night Unremembered
13 years ago
8 comments:
Here in Atlanta, even in the 'burbs outside of it, when you see a car that looks like a maniac with a death wish is driving it, your success rate on the "guess the sex and ethnicity of the driver" game are somewhere between 90 and 95 percent.
I think of it less as a prejudice, and more as an observation. And I don't project that trait onto everybody contained in the group. But it's pretty uncanny.
Utterly agree. Prejudice and xenophobia is part of our make-up, a useful survival trait in our evolutionary background. However, it now seems to be fast becoming a hindrance to our continued success as a species, so it will serve us well to recognise it, not be ashamed of it, and strive to overcome it.
Whew Douglas:
You've delved into a very complex area here.
To add to its complexity, check out the laws in the United States against miscegenation, and how the Supreme Court decision of Loving v. Virginia addressed them.
Steven - And you are otherwise so intuitive and smart. Consider that stereotypes are not only believed by the perpetrators of them but, often, by the targets of them.
Jules - We think much alike, it seems.
Inspector - Wikipedia's piece on the case you cite is very thought provoking. As you know, I am opposed to the state sanctioning marriage and think it should only recognize civil unions. Of course, I realize that would easily open the door to polygamous relationships.
so, the ones that are on their cellphone while veering into my lane / running red lights / cutting through parking lots and laying on their horn when I'm driving legally / wreck my wife's car / turn around in the middle of the road / etc. are doing it because it's expected of them?
I didn't attribute the bad driving to being an innate virtue of either sex or ethnicity, just commenting that the correlation is far too high to be statistical noise. It's one thing when it happens in East Atlanta, and another altogether when it happens in Alpharetta. I have a weird issue of not being able to look at other drivers...but when they do something stupid, especially to me, I always give them a nasty look. I don't know the causation, but there's a ridiculously high correlation.
And yes, I do realize, for instance, that the reason for high amounts of crime/violence/absentee fathers/whatever in the black community (again, for instance), has nothing to do with genetic inferiority and everything to do with culture and raising (oh, and the War on Some Drugs®).
My analytical mind notices patterns, if it's something that I'm interested enough to pay attention to. And one of the few things that fit that bill are terrible drivers.
Steven - Read the part about distortions Prejudice distorts the lens through which we examine everything. It is like a pair of glasses that are not quite properly made to your prescription, the distortion is there but it is so subtle that you adapt to it. Once you have adapted, your observations may seen objective but they aren't. My observations of bad, rude, careless, and dangerous drivers have all been across the board. No more one than the other when taken as a whole. Are my observations less valid than your own? Or are they distorted? Or are they accurate? I only ask that you examine your own perceptions closely.
Well I surely know that confirmation bias exists. I haven't ruled it out. I've never noticed any patterns concerning RUDE drivers...probably because that's so common that I don't even bother to notice. It takes a couple of distinct categories of crazy to get me to look at the driver.
I suppose there's also the fact that I wouldn't look at the driver, even if I otherwise would have, if they're in a tricked-out honda or a hoopty.
I think bigotry or prejudice is just insecurity needing to convince itself that it is better than something else...fill in a word. At least I'm not a blah blah blah.
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