"What's So Bad About Hate?" by Andrew Sullivan

Questions that the author attempts to answer:
1. Is hate a natural instinct or an attitude that one develops?
2. Have new laws been effective in combating hate crimes?
Question for the author:
3. How are minorites supposed to be "indifferent" to the racial epithets from majority groups?

Response

After thousands of years of evolutionary forces acting on the wiring of our brain, we have developed a skepticism and a sense of fear that is anything different from our own self. Making these distinctions between two individuals who look different resulted in the social constructions of race that are scientifically not true since, for example, a black person and a white person have no dramatic difference in the genetic composition between the two of them. In addition, experiences that have been engrained in our mind and the culture we were brought up in helps to shape our current views. Andrew Sullivan dives into this in his piece about the generalizations that we view as bigotry are not necessarily the problem. We all have some views that can perceived as hatred, but they truly are not. He argues that in a free society we will never suppress hate.

            Religious conservatives are victims of this with their views on marriage. A high ranking official of Chick-Fil-A voiced his position in favor of traditional marriage. There was immediate outrage from the community claiming this was hate speech and calling for boycotts. Did this individual have a malicious intent or was he voicing his opinion? This attempt to silence the opinion of this individual is believed to be counterproductive according to Sullivan. We are all going to have difference of views and we have to get to a point where we can coexist with all these individuals.

            I believe it is an innate quality of humans to make generalizations of people. Juan Williams, a political commentator, stirred up controversy when he said that once he felt uncomfortable when we saw a Middle Eastern man sitting on a plane that he was on. Obviously it was a dumb thing to say in public, but I do not blame him for having that feeling. Since 9/11, all Americans have been shaken by that tragedy and their world view has been dramatically altered. And in this age of terrorism by radicalized Muslims, we tend to make generalizations about Muslims that are unsavory, when in fact almost all of them are incredible people. These impulses we have come from the experiences we encounter in life. We cannot control them and by having them does not mean that we are bigots. If these impulses form an ideology, then it has become bigotry.