have become today’s hot words. I just heard on a news program that to be called a racist is the ‘worst’ thing that you can be called. UMMMM…REALLY? And it appears the words ‘Bigot’ and ‘Racist’ are being used interchangeably.
‘RACIST’ – prejudice against people who belong to other races. ‘PREJUDICE’ – intolerance, discrimination, narrow-mindedness, injustice, bias, preconception. ‘BIGOT’ – somebody with strong opinions, especially on politics, religion, or ethnicity, who refuses to accept different views.
Calling people these names has become common place in the political and media world. If someone disagrees with agenda, they are called a racist or bigot because it is such a ‘terrible’ label. I ask how is this any different than any other name calling? It isn’t!
In fact, how childlike is this behavior?
When I was about ten years old, I was walking home from school with my girlfriend, Becky, and some ornery boys from our school began tormenting us. They were calling us names such as: dill pickle (making fun of my last name), riggy sniggy, (making fun of Becky’s last name) stupid girls, dummies, creeps and all sorts of things that hurt our little girl feelings. We ignored them, walking straight ahead with purpose. Until these boys got closer and closer then fear over took us and we ran fast towards my house that was a few yards away.
When we reached the front porch, our hearts were pounding. Becky was crying as we burst in the front door and my Mother appeared and asked, “What’s wrong?” As she comforted Becky. I sucked it up. I wasn’t going to let those boys make me cry. As quickly as we could, we told Mother how horrible these boys were and the terrible names that they were calling us. To our surprise, Mother chuckled as she turned to me, “Well, you aren’t a dill pickle, are you?” To which, I gave pause, then answered as I giggled, “No, I’m not! Of course, I’m not!”
Becky stopped crying as Mom continued, “Why are you letting what these boys say bother you? It’s not true. It’s plain silly. You know who you are.” She was looking at the papers in my notebook as she talked, “You just got an A on your history test, so you certainly aren’t stupid. When you know who you are, what someone calls you won’t bother you.”
Becky and I immediately understood Mother’s message and were soon laughing about how silly those boys were as we munched our after school snack. And with our awareness and our subsequent attitude shift, those boys never bothered us again.
In that simple clear lesson at the age of ten, I learned that someone can call me ‘whatever’ name and it does not affect me because it is about them and NOT ME.
So what in the freaking world is going on in the world today? Everyone is calling everyone names. If someone calls someone the ‘N’ word then they in quick retaliation are called a racist. If someone says that they don’t like certain people or groups or ideas or anything else that doesn’t agree with another, then they are called ‘bigots’.
It has become like an elementary school room. Many in politics and the media are using the immature tactics of little bullies. If someone says something that they don’t like then they are labeled the ‘terrible’ labels of the day ‘Racist!” Bigot!’ We are giving over our power to the childlike behavior of name calling by calling and labeling names in return.
Pretty soon racist will become the “R” word. We have the ‘N’ word – the ‘B’ word – ‘C’ word, so on and so forth…everyone knows what is meant. We are becoming a bunch FOOLS! That is the real “F” word.
How plain SILLY is all of this? And this silliness is being perpetuated daily in the media and by people who are just plain clueless OR ARE THEY? Appears to me, that we may be being manipulate to ‘think’ and ‘talk’ like ‘they’ want us to – to be ‘Politically Correct’ by whose standards? It’s as if they thrive on the friction in the suppression. So, quick to point fingers at others caught saying the deemed horrible indiscretions.
Think back to the little boys tormenting Becky and me. It’s no different. We might have turned and called the boys names in return, but I was reared too mannerly to do so. And had we, what would it haveaccomplished? Only to make our behavior like our perpetrators?
In my opinion, there are worst things to be called than racist. How about murderer, rapist, pedophile, abuser, molester, cheater, etc???
The continual playing of Mel Gibson’s rant is an example of the perpetual attention to things such as this; with many coming out for a moment of spotlight to righteously exclaim their horror. How about stop playing the tapes? Stop calling Gibson a racist and shift the energy of it by NOT giving it any media time? Well, because, if they did that, they would miss out on exploiting the outrage of it all. Shows such as, THE VIEW, thrive on this kind of public display. Some of the women, such as Joy Behar have created their whole comedy ‘act’ on exploitation of the problems of others; making her living as the sarcastic bully.
There is not a one of us that hasn’t called someone a name or even used ‘racist’ slang. Doing so, does not make us a ‘racist’, in the true sense of the word. There is not a one of us that doesn’t have a bit of bigot or racist in us and that is not always a bad thing. In fact, it can mean that we stand for something, so we won’t fall for everything. It can mean that we just have our differences and don’t like others. SO WHAT!! Everyone doesn’t need to like or agree with everyone else. And we SHOULD NOT be called a name for feeling this way, anymore than we should call others names for being different. But it happens all the time and it is no big deal, (just as my Mother advised) When you know who you are then what others call you won’t matter. In fact, I know a man that uses this kind of slang towards all kinds of people and he is one of the kindest people, helps many, and would harm no one.
This racist/bigot name calling is just a counter attack by bullies.Bullies bullying bullies! And what it reveals are immaturity and a lack of common sense.
If you take the focus off of something it diminishes. What a concept!