Bigotry

     A bigot is defined in the online Oxford English Dictionary as:

a person who has very strong, unreasonable beliefs or opinions about race, religion or politics and who will not listen to or accept the opinions of anyone who disagrees.

Why do such people still exist in this world? Haven’t we, as a race, grown up into our adulthood yet, the civilised versions of our cave dwelling former selves? I’m thinking no.

A few weeks ago, while walking to visit my grandparents, my partner and I happened to pass by a group of older teens who were talking about the young man and woman who’d been in front of us and passed them moments before we did. As it happened the young couple had been Polish and had been discussing something in their own language when one of the teens yelled, “If you wanna live in my country, speak my fucking language!”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. As we got nearer, we heard them talking about ‘them’ stealing our jobs. This from kids not yet old enough to work.

I felt offended for the couple but as it happened they simply linked their arms and smiled at the group.

Why do people think that it’s perfectly okay to slight someone because their a little different from what they’re used to. I couldn’t help but wonder if the parents that raise these people, possibly have a part to play in the way they treat others.

I was always brought up to believe that people are people, nothing else matters, we’re all human.

I was discussing this with my sister and she began to tell me about a friend of hers from when she was in school and for the purpose of this post, we’ll call him Adam.

My sister told me that when she was 15 and at school, during a period of time when she was bullied and picked on for being over weight and wearing glasses, she became fast friends with a guy, Adam, who’d told her that he was gay.

Anyway, she told me that one day, when they were walking to my mother’s house, where my sister lived, Adam was set upon by three men, approximately in their thirties. They began to call him a ‘fag’ and ‘queer,’ at which point my sister began to defend him and was pushed to the ground. The men then grabbed a hold of Adam and hit him and kicked him repeatedly, beating him to a pulp, saying things like, “this’ll teach you to be gay,” or my favourite, “you need someone to show you how to be a man you girl.”

At this point, one of the men grabbed my sister by the throat and threatened to throw her off the bridge on which they were standing on and, ever the strong friend who’d defended her always, Adam picked himself of the floor, all covered in blood and grinned at the guy before punching him in the face and saying, “that’s how you be a man,” with which the two of them, Adam and my sister, ran like the wind while the guy’s friends stood and laughed at him.

Since hearing about this, I’ve thought that, in that moment, Adam was probably the bravest man I’ve known.

Why do people feel the need to behave like animals, all because someone doesn’t like the way someone else lives their life? In this day and age, I would’ve hoped that people would be far more tolerant than the evidence seems to suggest and I know it is getting better all the time but such bigotry should be crushed. That’ my opinion anyway

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Roo  😉