#39: No More Discrimination (PART 1)

【What's Norm?】
Now and then, if we find ourselves starting a conversation with a phrase “I'm not a racist but . . .” then we most likely are veering towards becoming a racist or have already become one.
 
For example,
“I’m not a racist but the Chinese and Korean people show poor manners lately, so I don’t want them to come here anymore.”
“I’m not a racist but I hope that black people and immigrants go somewhere else because they make our neighborhood less safe.”
“I’m not a bigot but LGBTQ are a bad influence on our kids, so I hope they just gather amongst their own.”
 
First and foremost, what this phrase indicates is the mistaken notion that you get to characterize whether you yourself are a racist or not. Remember, it's not you who gets to do that, but it's the people who feel offended by you for your actions or comments.
 
So then, why do many racists/bigots mistakenly believe that they get to characterize themselves in whatever way they so please? It’s because they, knowingly or not, presume that the majority gets to decide the norm and what’s common sense, and that the minority has no choice but to acquiesce.
 
The majority feels that we can decide the norm and common sense by the sheer force of numbers – and that the minority has no choice but to succumb – even when it’s not at all the norm or common sense in a truly global sense. For the majority, it’s always been like that since long before we can remember, so this sort of misconception is often deeply ingrained within the majority mentality without much realization.
 
But truth be told, a majority by no means is a proof of justice, or is it meant to be construed as correct. In fact, there are ample occasions in which the majority is flat-out wrong. It simply means, at a given point in time, that it exceeds minorities in number. That’s all it means.
 
Surely, there are some Chinese and Korean people who show poor manners. Perhaps, cringingly distasteful to our palate. Nevertheless, it’s simply outrageous to thereby suggest that all Chinese and Korean people have poor manners. That indeed will be a prejudice. What’s more, it’ll escalate into a discrimination to say that We don’t want them to come here anymore for all Chinese and Korean people.
 
There are 1.3 billion individuals in China and 50 million individuals in Korea living here on earth, just like each and every one of us. To speak as if we know them all is preposterous. The same goes for 1.3 billion people of African descent in the world, 240 million immigrants, and an estimated 700 million LGBTQ people.
 
What would you think of a guy who concludes that all Americans have poor manners simply because he happened to meet a few ill-mannered Americans while on vacation in the US? Needless to say, his conclusion is completely subjective based purely on his own norms and common sense formed within his own community. How ludicrous would that be to make such a blanket statement about all 325 million Americans as if he knows us all?
 
When we calm down and think through, we surely can admit to knowing at least a few amongst ourselves who have poor manners. At least a few who may make our neighborhood less safe or perhaps aren’t the most ideal role model for our kids. Without a doubt, we can spot a few people like that whether we’re in the US, Japan, Egypt or North Korea – for that matter, in every country.
 
So, what’s most important is not the person’s place of birth, nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation or medical condition. Rather, it’s to see the individual as who s/he is and to engage with honesty and sincerity.
 
When we do that, the categorization of individuals into Chinese, Korean, Black, Immigrant, or LGBTQ will seem inadequately narrow and likely to veer towards a discriminatory tendency.

Read Next: No More Discrimination (2)【Let’s Step Out】
 
Complete Series: No More Discrimination (1)～(12)
[1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   [7]   [8]   [9]   [10]   [11]   [12]  
 
Read Theme: Discrimination