Pride & Prejudice
What exactly is prejudice?
I grew up poor, in hand-me-down clothes that didn't quite fit, and I carried 100 lbs more weight than I needed. This made school and high school a little hellish, to put it lightly. But at some point, you have to outgrow your adolescent fears. Still, thin rich white people terrify me. Even rich Christian-y types scare me. I would venture to say that the most frightening person on the map for me would be a rich, white, thin Christian-y type.
This is prejudice, the kind of prejudice Elizabeth Bennett feels towards Mr. Darcy after he insults her. Prejudice comes from wounded pride and feelings of injustice or discrimination. It does not come from feelings of superiority. People often get that wrong.
Our culture has embraced prejudice, but we don't call it that. It's so cleverly sold as the opposite. We're simply hating those who hate, those who've looked down on us, those who've treated us like second class citizens. So it's okay.
But it's interesting (and a little terrifying) to sit back and watch this all play out, as we allow our prejudices to define us, to turn us into the type of people who stop seeing people, who stop recognizing the individual.
In the 1930's, the Germans were downtrodden. Their pride had been stomped out by losing the first world war. Their economy had been crushed by defeat. The "rich, privileged, white folks" of their time were the Jews, thriving in a disastrous economy. The Jews in 1930's Germany were the 1%.
It didn't require all of Germany, or even a majority, to change the face of a country. It just required a few sparks here and there. A report that a Jew had murdered a German (much like the death of Trayvon Martin), and the mantra that the Jews had caused Germany to lose the war (much like the rich causing the 2008 economic crisis).
While I doubt the U.S. will be the next Nazi Germany, I fear what we're becoming. When do we stop distinguishing one white man from another? One rich man from another?
Eliza Bennett's prejudice never gets further than bad feelings and an uncomfortable confrontation with Mr. Darcy. She doesn't lead any protests against snooty rich men, and her opinions soon change. Her prejudice is cooled by recognizing the individual before her, a flawed, prideful man, but still a human with the ability to maneuver out of a fixed state.
Our culture, however, never sees the individual. We see groups, colors, nationalities, and income levels. We see the big picture, but we lose so much in our broad worldview. And as long as we fail to see the individual, we fail to recognize the humanity (the complexity and possibility of change and redemption) in the people we consider our opponents. And that's when prejudice becomes dangerous, especially in the fertile soil of real (or perceived) oppression.
Prejudice is only the beginning. I hope it fizzles out before we see the end.