Differences

Sometimes I wonder about the world today. I wonder how so many of our problems seems to come from our stereotyping of other peoples differences. Whether it's race, religion, wealth, culture, or simple ideology everywhere I look there seems to be judging and stereotyping going on. I'd say this kind of pigeonholing was the silent elephant in the room, but it actually seems more like a tyrannosaurus. Whether or not people openly shout slurs on the street doesn't really reflect how judgmental or bias a given place is. It simply reflects that most of them want to avoid the "bigot" or "jerk" label which might be put upon them by those outside their own group if their prejudices were out in the open.

And is it better this way, that everyone should simply shut up and pretend there is no issue? Some people seem to believe so. Instead of confronting the various stereotypes with facts and smashing them down, many in our society employ a "shutup everything is fine" kind of approach. The main idea seems to be that if we don't acknowledge stereotypes, then they magically disappear. Then we wonder why despite how "progressed" we become there is still fragmenting and infighting going on in our society. Or maybe I should not say "we", maybe I should just say "I". Since while most people seem to think of "progression" when it comes to stereotyping as being a racial thing, I am looking at the big picture. Racism is not the root of this way of thinking, it is just a symptom of a bigger problem.

The problem is that some people just seem to have a natural tendency to form themselves into some kind of caste system. They group up with others who they perceive as being "worthy" of hanging around them, then lump anyone who does not fit into that category of people as being inferior and having no value. Often this category of "worthy" people is defined in a way that based on purely superficial traits. Looking a certain way. Talking a certain way. Thinking a certain way. Why people have such a need to categorize themselves in this way is anyones guess. Maybe people have a need to look down on others so they feel superior. Maybe it's just a form of tribalism. Who really knows, but this is a problem I believe that must be addressed by our educational system.

I was in a class just earlier today when I noticed a few symptoms of this problem. I'm not really sure what it is about this class, but it seems to have attracted a more elitist audience then other classes I can remember. Yet I would describe my classmates from this class as having a certain kind of conventional intelligence. They seem confidant and are effective communicators, maybe even slightly charismatic. But at the same time they are arrogant.

During the class today we were watching a video, and as part of the video the voice of a black man was describing the effect of hurricane Katrina. He was speaking in a rather informal manner, just like he was talking to someone out on the street. Some of my classmates thought this was funny and they laughed openly at his manner of speaking. Yet, if they had actually given the man a chance before they laughed they would have seen that he was not a stupid man and he made a few good points. Sadly I can't say I was terribly surprised by my classmates behavior. People just seem unable to control themselves when they see or hear something that sounds "stupid", and they just laugh. Whether it's flagrantly laughing at a fellow classmate for asking what they thought was an idiotic question, laughing at someone for talking in a certain manner, or just for not having the right "look", the central problem seems to me that they are not being accepting of diversity. No not diversity of race. Diversity of thought. Just because someone is not thinking in the same manner as you or does not grasp one thing as quickly as you, it does not make them "wrong". It just makes them different. Neither better nor worse.

However many people don't seem to have learned this lesson quite yet. I think it is about time for our educational system to rise to the challenge. Instead of a "accept this other person or else" mentality we need to really focus on convincing other people that differences don't mean inferiority. Convincing them, as opposed to beating them with the stick of social shame should they fail to comply. Because while we can silence the voicing of prejudices in public with that approach, we cannot destroy them. And we must destroy them, because if you look around to see who is laughing in my class you do not see some strange, backwards, freaks of nature. You see ordinary people, who simply do not know any better.

Vocab:
Pigeonhole:a specific (often simplistic) category
Flagrant: conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible