A few years ago during one of my travels to the US,
I found myself recovering from the November chill as I was waited for a lift
in the hotel lobby. Quite soon, I noticed that one of the lifts was on its
way from the parking area. The lift arrived, but even before I could attempt entry, I heard a
chime and then the door slide to a close. Beyond those sliding doors was blonde
lady who looked straight at me and pressed a close door button despite my request to
stop. Back in my
country of India we are used to being accommodative despite lifts brimming with
human beings and here the lady was the sole occupant. I was left in complete perplexity. Then the mind wondered to a darker corner, was there something else about me that bothered her? But before I
could complete that thought, I heard another chime and voice “Sorry, I pressed
the wrong button” It was the same blonde lady, she informed me that she was
short sighted and hence she had pressed >< (to close doors) instead of <> (to open doors) that were
located side by side. Co-incidentally she happened to be on the same floor as I
was in the hotel and even helped technically challenged me to open my room door
with the swipe card. In the subsequent days we ran into each other a couple of times and she even informed me about the heritage walk in the city
that would interest me as a tourist. She was warm, friendly, and very helpful
above all Harrison Ford fan. Clearly I had erred rather gravely in perceiving
prejudice where there was none. An important life lesson was learned.
Bigotry is quite easily the most abominable bane of human
existence. At its core this is the irrational fear of the unknown and usually emanates
from ignorance. You see an individual who looks different and talks different language or accent and you presume the worst of them. It also
involves a stereotyping of groups of people based on commonly held
misperceptions. It is no different from one football fans senselessly hating
another football fan from another team except it has serious social and
historical implications. It is also erroneous to presume that the victims of bigotry
are only individuals from minority groups.
It is important to expose prejudice in every form but is equally
important to practice the utmost caution before pronouncing bigotry. Spurious allegations
of bigotry can be as destructive as bigotry itself. Also important to know that
every human being holds misconceptions and prejudices about some group of
individuals. Unless there is violence involved, one has to understand bigotry can
be cured by exposure and education. To be inclusive it means to try and reform those
who are misguided. But what we see happening is quite the contrary. Attempts
are made to silence any form of opposition by ascribing bigotry and the next
step is often to banish the individual from public discourse. This also serves
are a deterrent for others who may want to express a diverse opinion.
Among the most recklessly handled issues by the news media and the left is bigotry.
We read of articles and hear expert ascribe bigotry without concrete
evidence. It is equally surprising that this goes largely unchallenged. Any
criticism of President Obama to be slammed as racist. This has been effective
in shutting down any opposition to no matter how legitimate it may be. Any
criticism of Hillary Clinton was termed as sexist, in fact there are many who
are blaming her defeat to misogyny. Any shooting that involves a black victim
means all racist white policemen with an agenda to kill black men. Any
individual questioning Black Lives Matter is automatically a racist.
All through his campaign, Donald Trump and his supporters have been the worst victims of spurious attacks. In one of her speeches to her donors, Hillary Clinton termed Trump supporters as belonging to the ‘Basket of Deplorables’ and who are racist, homophobic, islamophobia, anti-Semitic and sexist. This sentiment was endorsed by many in the ‘liberal’ media, Hollywood and the global political establishment. Thus bigotry was being practiced to condemn ‘bigotry’. These pronouncements were made with absolute certitude as if the matter was beyond dispute. A climate was created such that the average individual hesitated to openly come out in support of Trump for the fear of being labelled a bigot. In a strange twist of irony this turned out to be self-defeating. The portrayal of Trump as a bigot resulted in many concealing their support for Trump and lying to the polls, this caused the Dems to actually believe there were winning the Presidency. As stated earlier, one of the hallmarks of bigotry is to stereotype and believe that any group is monolithic and thinks in an identical manner. But this is actually what ‘liberals’ did as the called Trump racist. They made a presumption was made that Hispanics will not vote for Trump for his anti-illegal immigration stance. Thus presuming all Hispanics are criminal and support illegal immigration. They presumed women won’t vote for Trump for his ‘misogynistic’ statements, which were remarks on a comedy show or locker room talk that most human beings indulge in. They presumed that African Americans would not vote for Trump for no particular reason than that they called him racist. We also had various publications calling Trump a Neo Nazi and a dictator. We had people express real fear about a Trump presidency.
Such was the hate and bias that they were blinded to see that Trump’s message was for all Americans. His message of message of combating terrorism, bringing back jobs, boosting the economy and combating illegal immigration resonated with most Americans. But the lesson was still not learned. When Trump secured a massive victory a CNN contributor termed as a white lash. There have also been cases of fake claims of racism that get major coverage that turns out to be a falsehood. It is interesting to know that Trump was never ever termed a racist before he entered active politics.
So what
are the consequences of these abominable overstatements and hyper hysteria?
The
consequence is twofold. The first is that some groups of people really buy into
this narrative that the nation is under threat from bigoted individuals who are
emboldened because of Trump. They begin to see persecution and bigotry in the
most innocuous of occurrences. They keep moving deeper into the crevices of
darkness and paranoia. They stick to certain propaganda news sites that only
push this narrative. The polarization and division get wider and wider. The
second, and this may be the more serious consequence that public become
impervious to reporting of bigotry, because they have been subjected to it
innumerable times and presume that it is just another wolf cry. Their reaction
to the reporting of a real incident is that of indifference as they refuse to
believe it and that will be very sad.
The only way to combat this is for every citizen to get out of the darkness of blind following of an ideology or a candidate or a political party. To question all your belief that you thought of as axioms of your life. To understand that to be a liberal is to be tolerant of diversity that means diversity of views. To understand that not every individual who happens to be in the majority is not a bigot and not every individual who belongs to the minority is a saint, like all humans there will be diversity. To understand that when exposed to a diverse perspective one has to be open. To never ever to rush to judgement about an individual until all the facts are out. For the propagandist in media and the political establishments, they should experiment with fact and truth. All points of common sense and common decency but merit a reiteration owing the prevailing climate.
This speech by Charlton Heston also merits a view that is related ...
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