We often see the level of prejudice and kindness of a person as
interconnected. The received wisdom being that as the former increases, the
later will decrease. We like to believe that we are friends with people that
are free from bigoted views such as homophobia, sexism and racism. And
ourselves, well we’re definitely beyond such low mindedness.
But are we? It’s a fact that stereotypes abound and that we’ve
probably used at least one. The difference between calling the French moody and
all immigrants workshy might seem stark but really they’re only different ends
of the same spectrum. One that places generic feelings above all else. An angry
man on Question Time, a couple of weeks ago, who seemed angry enough to storm
the gates of the Bastille himself raged against facts because of the
experiences he had seen and heard himself. I got uppity as I watched him,
rolled my eyes in disbelief and tweeted my outrage at him. The irony that I was
using him to reinforce my beliefs about angry old white men went right over my
head for quite a while.
More than ever, people are dissenting from the voices of experts
and looking for people that will speak their mind and be the voice of them –
the people. Who doesn’t want to think that they’re part of the majority? And we
all have public figures that we think take our views and distill them in a
beautifully conveyed message that would be the envy of even Moses and his
commandments.
Katie Hopkins is one of those people. And she expertly exemplifies
that whole spectrum thing. Hopkins is a bit of a regular on This
Morning, she’ll come on for a segment which is somehow hotly controversial
but also pretty pointless and seem to divide the nation. Sometimes she does
things akin to a stereotype about the French, probably tongue in cheek and
harmless. Like that time when she got on the TV and was making ridiculous
claims about not letting her children play with kids with certain names.
Now, most people watching that knew she was talking utter garbage.
Children don’t choose their own names so how can it be an indication of their
behaviour. And yet she was also theatrical and a little bit funny. It was such
a low stakes debate that it didn’t really matter that she was being completely
out of order. Plus, whilst she was pushing it to the absolute limits, the whole
judgement on a name is not a new phenomenon. I’d definitely heard more than one
snide, offhand comment from a teacher along the lines of ‘of course they’re
called that’.
The problem is that when Hopkins has the legitimacy to go on and
spout rubbish about names then she also has the legitimacy to talk about things
far more dangerous than names. Like in December when she had a go at the NHS
funding drugs that would prevent HIV. She acted innocent, asking for someone to
explain why they were funding it when surely this was just an expensive way to
increase other STI. It didn’t matter that none of that makes sense, that it’s
documented that more routes for protection do not increase other infections. In
black and white, it seemed to add to five so why on earth would it actually be
equal to four?
Prejudice is being beaten down in our society in many different
regards but it still seeps through in a few ways. Hopkins is an example of
that, the frankness that she expounds allows her to bulldoze the rules against
prejudice that generations before us have carefully created. This frankness is
second only to one other emotion that trumps the normal protocol that protects
against bigotry.
Fear and uncomfortableness is the one that reigns supreme in
allowing people to indulge in deep rooted prejudices that sit in the back of
our heads. It’s most clear in the horrible discrimination faced by Muslims who
only want to live their lives but are targeted by people who have turned to hate
through fear. These feelings of fear and uncomfortableness are often the
catalyst for discrimination against people that are HIV positive.
Like I said in the beginning, people don’t fit into neat
categories. Especially in regards to dealing with illnesses. It’s totally
natural to be afraid of illness. Often in fear, we say and do things that we
will later regret. No one thinks that they’re fighting for the cause that will
be remembered as narrow minded and backward. Fear corrupts in a way even
stronger than power because it doesn’t bend to anything remotely sensible. It
relies on misinformation and darkness because in the shadows, insecurities can
transform into massive monsters. Only too often fear of the illness will bleed
over to people will the illness.
Compassion is always important. By understanding that most people are
prejudiced through ignorance and fear, it’s easier to reach out and change
opinions. It needs to be a two way street though. Ignorance makes people more
comfortable in voicing opinions which don’t stand up to reason. I’ve heard
people say without batting an eyelid that ‘they’re not prejudiced, they’re just
uncomfortable’ being in the same gym as someone that was positive. This isn’t
okay. It puts an irrational insecurity above the very real emotions of another
person. We should be allowed to use the same gyms as you without feeling
apologetic all the time. We have nothing to be ashamed about. The prejudice
that exists in the air is impossible to absorb though so you spend a good
amount of time questioning absolutes that you know to be true.
I remember drinking with a guy and explaining undetectable means
untrasmittable. After I’d set out in detail that you could never get HIV from a
person with an undetectable viral load he told me that whilst he knew that now,
he suffered from hypochondriac so couldn’t possibly sleep with a positive
individual. It was as if this somehow insulated him from his bigoted standpoint.
Holding views like this don’t make you a bad person but they are
wrong. We need to challenge ourselves before we start preaching to others and
the best way to do this is to confront our own prejudices and bigotry. By doing
this we can break down stigma and get to a place where we can confront people’s
prejudices without any blame being thrown about and reach a society where
people are judged on their actions, not how they look or their disabilities.
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