Bigotry

Often when we think of bigotry, we picture a bunch of old men holding placards with incorrectly spelled words going on vague rants to anyone willing to hear. But bigotry isn’t just unadulterated hate, it’s far more complex. I want to attempt to revisit the way bigotry is depicted and combatted for this very reason.

I'd like to speak about the issue by first examining the prevalent solution to bigotry we see around us, that is majorly campaigns by Philanthropist arms of various companies using various occasions to promote values in line with societal objectives , including some attempts at combating bigotry in certain instances. When we see social media campaigns by companies targeted at advocating for a solution to bigotry or more commonly, simply pointing it out , usually they rely on advocating assimilation and the promise of unity rather than a concrete approach to fight bigotry. Now, some would say that such an approach is necessary to relate to the larger conscience of society. Rightfully so, social media being a capitalistic medium, focuses on reach as a measure of success rather than actual impact.

However when most brands carry out campaigns against bigotry, such as Bumble and Tinder carrying out campaigns featuring prominent transwomen,they usually have a hand in creating the problem they aim to solve. In this case, Tinder despite including options for multiple genders, asks users to select which of the genders they’d like to appear in giving merely two options- men and women, thus maintaining, rather upholding and strengthening the gender binary and transphobia they appear to oppose.

Further looking at these media campaigns targeted at “ending bigotry”, the problem lies with strengthening an individual of an oppressed community rather than strengthening the community itself. The individuals promoted themselves usually have social capital (caste, finance, class, acceptance in society etc) and thus may have a disconnect from large sections of their community itself. The subordination of interests of the community to the personal interests of just an individual seems unfair to me atleast. The recent petitions for “same-sex” (the term same-sex itself being transphobic has been rejected by many) marriage in the Delhi HC too reflect this. The institution of marriage, especially in south asia has been an institution based on upholding endogamy, heteronormativity, misogyny, classism. As such, it serves as a mode of liberation for barely anyone except those at the top of the pyramid of privelege. Calling this petition a step for queer liberation seems futile when large sections of the community have been reeling under the effects of the Trans Act 2019, homelessness, unemployment, medical discrimination all added with the psychological pressure of being a minority.

Speaking of this, it’s necessary to note how even the most aesthetically noble and well intentioned acts of “destroying” bigotry by those in power are simply ways to make the majority of the populace complacent to the extent of bigotry present in society.When the Black Lives Matter movement demanded racial equality and the defunding of police and set up an agenda to address white supremacy, the liberals, mainly the democrats rallied around them in an effort to highlight (rightfully so perhaps) the Republicans’ inaction and ignorance on race related issues. They projected themselves as the political beneficiary of this and many other progressive causes thus benefiting from most of the average centrist-liberal voters. However, after coming to power, they have shown no intention of backing most of those promises. The kicker here, is that now because they are in power, any minimal effort by them will be seen as a much larger gain than it is simply because the “other one” was admittedly worse. Be it on bombing syria and somalia, inaction on the race front, inability to raise the minimum wage, the liberals have faced considerably less flack from the average liberal than the previous administration. In fact, decisions such as overturning the ban on trans folks serving in the military have once again, done nothing to affect queer liberation as a goal. It is fair to say, I believe, that liberals are responsible for dulling the edge of multiple radical movements and appropriating them while reaping benefits from those movements simply by virtue of being the “lesser evil”. While it is easy to call out blatant bigotry from the alt-right and brand it as sheer logical fallacy or portray them as goons , it is also necessary to see the role people with privileged identities from other

Political alignations play in enabling bigotry and making the populace complacent with it. The concepts of privilege and oppression are tied together.

The identity of the privileged cannot be separated completely from that of the oppressor group. It thus becomes the responsibility of those who are privileged and politically woke to question themselves and those around them as well and facilitate conversations which will help confront bigotry. The focus of the privileged must not be on using the testimonies, trauma and hurt of the oppressed groups to appeal to the morality of their oppressor but on creating dialogue independent of that, questioning their privilege actively, recognising it and resolving to (at least attempting to) go about their lives without their privileges.

When it comes to these conversations, things tend to go sour as the privileged will want to hold onto their power. While some tend to be outright with their bigotry, the rest will defend their bigotry. Be it the anti-reservation and anti-affirmative action (both being corrective measures to attempt to fix the mess created by casteism and racism with respect to representation of the oppressed masses )idealogues attempting to justify their positions by appearing to defend the concept of merit, an institution that has been proven to be classist and broken by professors such as Dr Michael Sandel of the Harvard University. He says that those who have landed on top, praise themselves for being “meritorious” while also considering that all those who haven’t made it to the top,have no one to blame for their failure but themselves. In doing so, they either willingly refuse to or fail to notice systemic power imbalances and power structures which favour one group over others. Those in the west opposed to homosexual marriage claimed to be defending the idea of a family which they claimed was under attack. Transphobes have long since called the Trans Rights Movement an attack on “common sense” and “science” despite contradictory evidence. Antibody Positivity activists have covered up their disdain for fat people by appearing to be concerned for their health.

In all these instances (and many more) we see that bigotry does’nt stem only from “haters” as media has us believe but also from people who love their privelege too much to let go of it and those feigning concern for groups to justify their bigotry.For some context, Islamophobic homophobes will often question people on why they apparently “support” Islamic nations which have stricter repercussions for the queer community but won’t think twice before advocating for the same in their own country. This concern for the queer community doesn’t stem from actual worries but feigned concern with the hope that if they get certain people to see the people they hate as enemies of the oppressed. In this case, those who have any actual concern for queer liberation are forced to prove their concern to them by joining them in inflicting more hate upon individual muslims around them, another oppressed group.

While we recognise that bigotry is supported by power structures and adopted by oppressor groups, it’s also important to see it as an individual choice influenced by society’s base instincts. Calling out these bigots while necessary, rarely impacts the way bigotry continues to grow. A snappy comeback at a bigot may be worth loads of likes and a feature on a meme page but does little to impact the lived realities of the oppressed people. The superstructure of social institutions which uphold bigotry is maintained and shaped by the base of society or the economic mode of production and organization followed by it. In Marxist theory, the theory of base and superstructure refers to the relation between economic and social situations which maintain and enforce each other. Marx often considered social relations and situations as secondary to economic modes of distribution and production of resources (ie. he considered it important for people to understand the latter in order to understand the former). In a modern industrial capitalist society such as ours, Marx understands class conflict as the conflict within classes to control the means of production in a society. Thus, it’s an attempt by oppressed classes , living in a society where the oppressor class has a hegemony over the way people see social relations and situations( a theory propounded by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci) to reclaim their share of surplus unfairly claimed by those in power. Considering the fact that the hegemony of the oppressor allows them to impact not just economic ideas, but also social ideas such as gender, race, caste, religion etc, bigotry finds a nest to brood in and grow as an attempt by the bourgeoisie to maintain their hold on power. Thus, it’s necessary to note the role the economic layout of society prompts individuals to engage in bigotry.

Conclusively, Bigotry isn’t born out of hatred alone but also love for one’s own privilege, tied in with their oppressor identity. Bigots aren’t just “villagemen” who can be driven away or cowed down by a social media hashtag or campaign, they are well equipped with power structurally to hurt those they hate. The problem with depicting fascists and bigots as somehow logically deficient people who can’t tell their heads from their shoulders is just that it doesn’t only make light of the situation, but ignores the power they have and the injustice they already have meted out.

It is essential to identify bigotry everywhere because it lurks all around us, waiting for an environment where we leave our guards down and it presents itself in the form of a joke which causes a room to erupt in laughter.

I’d want us to know that we can’t simply rely on those in power to confront bigotry, we must engage in the process actively if we are to address it, let alone solve it. Remember that Bigots lie even in the nicest of people (and we aren’t exempt either)