The Rise of Anti-Government Bigots: Spitting, the N-Word, Anti-Gay/Lesbian Slurs

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by Kobi

Prejudice is not eradicated by legislation, neither is discrimination but that is just my opinion. I have seen to many people being screwed by the very laws designed to help them simply because the perpetrators use a roundabout route to justify their deeds while circumenting the law.

I think that we sometimes mix up the desire to see a world without discrimination with a world without prejudice. I would love for my granddaughter to NEVER have a racist or sexist experience in her life. That would be a good world from where I sit. However, I doubt she'll live in that world. What world I *can* leave her with is a country where it is not legal to discriminate and THAT we can legislate.

Let me be clear, I do not care if any given white person hates me because I'm black. I really do not give a damn what any particular white person thinks of me. What I *do* give a damn about is whether or not that white person can make their racism my problem. Calling me the 'n-word' makes it my annoyance but not my problem. Refusing to treat me fairly in an interview, refusing to grant me credit, not taking me seriously in class or in the workplace, passing me over for promotion or paying me less than my colleagues--even those who have less experience than I do--IS making it my problem and THAT I expect my society to put quite a bit of energy into doing something about. The same applies for men and for straight people. Don't care. Genuinely don't. As long as they cannot *legally* make it my problem, what someone carries in their own head neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg, to use Jefferson's memorable phrasing. As long as I have a legal recourse then that is as good as I think any society will do.

The above, by the way, explains why I have said on numerous occasions that where we are today--right here, right now--in America is probably the best any of us can expect as far as racial harmony is concerned, notwithstanding all of the genuflecting about white privilege and talk of unpacking of knapsacks. I don't expect anything to get noticeably better in my lifetime *because* you can't legislate away prejudice. I choose to work on eliminating those things you *can* legislate away--like it being legal to fire someone for no better reason than that they are queer. Or it being legal to harass someone at work or school because they are queer. Or it being legal to refuse to rent to someone because they are queer, etc. etc.

Cheers
Aj