Knowing Your Neighbour
"People are very careful about what they say about people from other categories. They’re really egalitarian, they try to be fair, but when we measure them in more subtle ways, when they’re not conscious of their responses and they’re not able to control them, then we find that racism is still quite prevalent in North America."
"Even though it might happen within the first 100th of a second, we know that downstream that can tell us whether you might hire a person, whether you have positive or negative associations with that person and whether you’re willing to interact with that person."
"Racism is still quite prevalent in Canada."
"Explicit racism and prejudice is decreasing, but if you talk to a lot of minorities – particularly black youth – racism is almost a daily occurrence."
Social Cognition Lab, York University, Toronto, Prof. Kerry Kawakami
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The usual minds-eye picture of a racist is that of a bigoted slob, uneducated, anti-social, nursing personal grievances and finding solace in the company of others like themselves who need some other group to focus on to direct their hatred toward, to blame for everything they feel that has gone wrong in their personal lives, their relationships and in society at large. They come from deprived backgrounds with limited exposure to others and limited interest in knowing anything about those they love to hate.
It's a picture that has been studied intensively. One that doesn't quite fit with what reality informs us. That those who invest themselves with irrational claims about other ethnic groups, visible minorities, unique customs reflective of their heritage must of necessity be those of disadvantaged backgrounds are not necessarily and certainly not exclusively those from among whom leading activists both on the right and the left derive. Both are capable of hating and distinguishing themselves righteously from the other. The left is more attuned to character assassination.
The right indulges its passions in the commission of violence, and are not averse to actual assassination. And among them are people who have come from the echelons of the educated middle class, as well as the upper class; people who the naive might suppose would or should be more open and tolerant and accepting because their minds have been opened to educational opportunities. Yet their minds could still be closed to accepting others as equals, preferring to invest them with harmful attributes for whom isolation and violence is prescribed to persuade them they don't belong.
Some of these social misfits have had the privilege of attending outstanding academic institutions, earning the credentials that attest they have succeeded in their field of studies, yet they have become psychologically tainted with bigotry and cling to its tenets. Richard Spencer, white supremacist, as example, president of the National Policy Institute, took his degree in intellectual history at Duke University. He is married to a woman with a doctorate from University of Toronto.
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In right-wing circles one element in common brings them together in a paroxysm of pure, unadulterated hatred; they are all anti-Semites. Albeit not exclusively. They have ample room in their hate-chest for others to be included as well. It is simply that virulent anti-Semitism reflects the core of the far-right-wing movement. In the 1960s, scholars in West Germany attempted to discover what the appeal of fascism might possibly be; they hazarded economic uncertainty, the dwindling influence of organized religion, and popular entertainment.
In a sense, the radical right-wing reflect the strategy employed by Islamofascists who integrate themselves superficially into the prevailing culture of leftist ideals to gain support and sympathy for their cause as a 'misunderstood' religious minority with a culture and values all their own, worthwhile and equal to the indigenous ones. It is an appeal of the underdog to the power of the majority and it works in their favour. In the instance of the radical right-wing, they choose to profess a linkage with conservatives who strain against the injustice of having to plead guilty for the sins of the past.
As well as those conservatives who find value in supporting the fundamentals of the past in honouring the traditional vision of marriage as a covenant between opposite sexes. And who decry the emphasis on giving minorities and/or women an increased representation reflecting their minority or gender status over men with superior qualifications, experience and numbers as an unfair advantage, disadvantaging them. The traditions that recognized differences in gender identification did not include the newly diversified gender identities. Their beliefs do not make them right-wing bigots.
Violence in a political grouping often has an earlier manifestation resulting from dysfunctional households where bullying and extreme punishments have taken place, disciplining the young to stern measures and violence. Which they in their mature years extract from the experience of their formative years and incorporate into their ideology of bigoted hatred and campaigns of exclusion. An 86 percent increase in anti-Semitic crimes in the past year has been noted by NPR.
Jews, the canary in the pathology of mass-popularized ethnic and religious recrimination, slander and hatred. First come the accusations, then the name-calling, and finally the physical confrontations, with violence growing out of the latter. The level of commitment to racist hatred has a grasp accommodating enough to include all people of colour and external foreign derivation.
As for the alternate? The left's contribution to blame, victimization and hatred?
"Antifa activists, who operate without any centralized leadership, told CNN that their goal is peace and inclusivity. They often denounce capitalism and government. Since Trump entered the world stage, they've condemned his push to tighten immigration rules and what some view as his tendency toward racism.""While Antifa members don't fit a single category, they say many are millennials and many live on society's fringes: undocumented immigrants, transgender people, low-wage workers, those who don't conform to the traditional 9-to-5.""And their methods are often violent. Antifa leaders admit they're willing to physically attack anyone who employs violence against them or who condones racism -- as long as force is used in the name of eradicating hatred."CNN
Labels: Bigotry, Canada, Left, Racism, Right, United States, Violence
posted by Pieface @ Monday, August 21, 2017
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