The evolving bigotry meme.
An interesting take on the issue of bigotry. Like most points of view it has holes. Avenue Q focuses on unintentional bigotry. Their thesis that everyone is bigoted stands well, but the solution of "it doesn't matter" doesn't Much like Morgan Freeman's "Stop talking about it," idea more may be needed.
At the heart of the matter bigotry is Nature and Nurture. Teach children to hate or be hurt by a group and bigotry is nurtured. The media Nurture hatred too with token parts for ethnic actors and reinforcing stereotypes. This is all well known. What I don't see people mentioning is the Human Nature part of bigotry. In pre-civilization times many 'psychological' traits were survival mechanisms. these traits continue today, mostly unconsciously. As an example if you were told that a mushroom would kill you when you eat it you were inclined to believe it. You would have to be pretty hungry to eat mushrooms that someone said would kill you. Also, if the elders point to a mushroom and tell you it's deadly, you are not likely to try and eat different kinds of mushrooms, you would probably avoid them all. As such we tend to group things by our primary sense, sight, and believe 'bad reviews' more then 'good reviews.' If a bad review is wrong, not a big loss, if a good review is wrong then a much greater loss. Humans tend to err on the side of caution.
The issue is that these traits make bigotry potent. If someone says that a group is bad or dangerous, we believe it. We judge people by how they look to gauge our risk. Since the "Racism" meme is false, we falsely treat people as threats.
The answer to bigotry is manifold. First, assess the offense. A person asking an honest question or unmaliciously using an offensive term should be counseled ("hey, that's not cool...") A person using bigoted speech maliciously is asking for a fight. Paradoxically, fighting them reinforces the bigotry. Here I recommend caution and avoidance.
Also examine your own thoughts and motives. I have prejudices, I acknowledge my bigotry and try to keep it from having a negative effect on others. By knowing my prejudice and from where it came, I can keep it in check. Think before you launch on a hyphenated attack upon someone you disagree with. Attack them for the reason you are mad, NOT irrelevancies such as ethnicity, height, weight, sexual orientation, religion etc. this will make your arguments more cogent and harder to refute.
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