We're all a bunch of bigots!

Dear Readers:


Your humble reporter has stated several times on these pages that I'm not a racist, but I might be a bigot about certain stuff ..., because we're all like that in one way or another!


I was reading an article on racism yesterday that explored whether there is individual bigotry inherent in us due to certain cultural traits that are systemic amongst the population.


In other words, every culture has it's own distinct personality and traits, and one of those things is a bias against people who are different from us. (As a northern European I just have to look at the differences in temperament between Germans and Italians)


It has the usual major distinctions of different skin colour, ethnic origin and religion ...., but also applies to someone who doesn't have the same sexual orientation or even political view.


This is one of the reasons overt racism manifest itself in a society ..., it's the subtle ways in which these differences are expressed by the population as a whole.


Take today as an example:


The media was all hyped up about an 'Amber Alert' that was issued for a five year old girl in Alberta.

They kept referring to her as 'mixed race,' which exemplifies how these cultural biases taint our perception of facts.


Another example was the story of a man in a wheelchair (he was paralyzed in a bombing five years ago back in Syria) who couldn't catch a bus because they wouldn't stop for him.


After sitting on the sidewalk for an hour and a half ...., he placed himself in front of a bus until they let him on! (Good for him!)



Here is the headline of that story: "Syrian refugee in wheelchair blocks Toronto bus after several pass him by."


SO! To make my point, why didn't they just say: "Man in wheelchair blocks Toronto bus?" Folks, it's because this insidious racism makes the story more appealing, and therefore it sells more newspapers ..., and reinforces our natural tendency towards elitism.