When I wrote a previous article “Taking Back Racism”, dummy me accidentally left out an important point that I meant to make. In fact, it was the main point that I wanted to make, but I got so caught up in other points that I completely forgot to mention it.
Kinda like when you go to the grocery store and get everything except what you went there for to begin with.
The point I wanted to make was this: Very few people are actually racists. To repeat the definition I gave, racism is the inherent belief in one’s own genetic superiority… or the inherent belief in everyone else’s genetic inferiority, however the hell you want to phrase it, whether physically, intellectually or both. Real racism is way more rare than you think it is.
Here’s the thing, though. Everybody is bigoted. Everybody is prejudiced. Everybody has stereotypes of other groups of people and all of us have said insensitive things about other groups. Most of these character flaws are practiced in private. Some of the ballsy ones say it in public. Usually stage comics that get paid an assload of money.
Yes, everyone. That includes me. That’s why the title is “We’re All Bigots”, not “You’re All Bigots”. It implies that I’m included. English 101.
I know what you’re thinking. “Not me! I’m none of those! I don’t judge people!”
Bullshit. Yes you do. To deny that, you’re not just lying to everyone else, you’re lying to yourself. In my experience, people who claim that they’re “non-judgmental” or claim that “no one can judge them” are some of the most disingenuous people in existence. They’re actually more judgmental than the ones they criticize for judging people in the first place. You think they aren’t judging who they accuse? These people just scream to be judged themselves.
Hell, you’re probably judging me right now, aren’t you?
So there it is. That was the point I meant to make. Few of us are racists. All of us have bigoted, prejudiced views, are insensitive to select groups and have negative stereotypes of every demographic in existence.
I’m not saying it’s OK. But that’s just how it is.
Deal with it.