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Bigotry and Being Human
Evolution has hardwired us so that threats go right to the top of our mental in-boxes. So, if 99 purple people walk peacefully by me but the 100th punches me in the nose, that 100th purple person is going to make a much bigger impression on me, both literally and figuratively, than did the other 99.
So:
- When I see the 101st purple person and alarm bells go off, that doesn’t mean I’m a bigot, it means I’m human.
- The one purple guy who punched me didn’t hurt only me, he hurt the peaceful 99 purple people as well.
- If purple people are significantly more likely to attack police officers, police officers are less likely to give purple people the benefit of the doubt. Cops are human, too.
- No matter how few unarmed purple people are hurt or killed by police officers every year, those incidents will loom large in the minds of other purple people.
- Derek Chauvin didn’t just kill George Floyd, he hurt every police officer in America. He made their jobs harder and he put their lives more at risk.
- Derek Chauvin also hurt every black American who is now afraid to turn to the police when they are in danger.
- The police officers who are assaulting journalists and peaceful protesters are giving citizens more reasons to fear and hate other police officers.
- The rioters and looters are giving other Americans reasons to fear and hate people who look like them.
- At the very least, I can decide not to pass the hatred on. I can decide not to be the reason why others hate and fear people who look like me.
You can make that decision, @richardfulmer. and it is an admirable thing to do. However, life has a say in any decision we make. Sometimes that means our decisions get canceled by the circumstances and we are left with mopping up the remnants. When that happens, re-examine and move on.
I have no intention of “passing the hatred on” either, but I’m also not going to accept responsibility of the irrational fears of others.
Fair enough. We’re responsible for our own actions, not those of others. But never let it be said that we didn’t do the least we could do. ;-)
This post is beautifully written. And it’s true (Science!) that humans are hard-wired to be suspicious of “Other.” It doesn’t mean bigotry. It’s a defense mechanism from our caveman days when that unfamiliar tribe appeared over the hill and we could be pretty sure they were here to burn the village and take the women. The Left thinks they can socially-engineer human nature away, but they can’t. They also think they can use it to shame us into submission. And I hate to say it, but it looks like maybe they can.
They’re the bigots, though. Making excuses for the violent criminal behavior we’ve seen this week, talking like the mayor of Minneapolis and others who spoke of “400 years of anger” and pretty much saying the BLM looters were just lower life forms who can’t be expected to act like civilized humans, so we have to just let them loose to destroy property and worse while we stand by and watch because after all, they can’t help it. Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. Who’s the racist?
People are tribal and we recognize patterns. Fortunately, we are smart enough to overcome any bias, if that is the community expectation. The expectation is important, since people will act horribly to each other, if it is tolerated.
This is one reason leftists are obsessed with race. Deep down, they also feel the alarm bells going off when they see someone who looks different or speaks a different language or whatever. As a result, they subconsciously panic at the possibility that they too might be just another red state rube. But unlike normal people, whose minds are capable of overriding such prejudices and not allowing it to affect their actions, leftists deny its existence and shove it down into their subconscious, where it festers and becomes a neurosis. And all the rest of us pay the price for the resulting mental illness.
I should add the following “so what?”
So, if purple guys are significantly more likely to attack police officers, police officers are less likely to give purple guys the benefit of the doubt. Cops are human, too.
Great post, Richard. I am saddened by the reality that a handful of bad actions spawned so much trouble. Our media doesn’t help by fanning the flames.
I would only add when the unfamiliar person appeared over the hill alone, you would have been well advised to consider what he might have done that made his own people banish him.
So right. Distrust is contagious.
Why can’t a purple person be a police officer? I bet you’re just afraid of the one eye and one horn. And that they fly. Bigot.
I object to any police officer wearing short shorts as a uniform.
But what fun would that be?
Gee, you try to bring a bit of class to this place and raise the level of conversation …