How come whenever society stops discriminating against one group of people...

[Alakazam17]

Yes, I definitely see a pattern here, and I'm hoping that it is eventually put to an end. In America specifically I think the focus has been on Muslims recently, and yes, transgendered folks are still discriminated against in many parts of the world.

In my opinion the stance shouldn't be on making things 'equal,' at least in the terms most of us think when we hear the word. Men are not women, homosexuals aren't straight, transgendered people are not cisgender, White people aren't Black, and Muslims aren't Christians. We should all have the same legal right to live, as well as all of the same opportunities. Not giving people these rights is not right. But to say we're all the same isn't right either.

Even when you take discrimination out of the picture, we will never be truly equal. Some diseases are more common in some races than in others, people of different faiths celebrate on different days of the year, homosexual couples can't reproduce as heterosexuals couples can, and men cannot get pregnant as women can. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, folks. We will never be equal in these and other regards, and we have to accept that. What we do need to do, in my opinion, is find a common ground with everyone(we all need food to live, for example), and set a minimum for equality. And when that's done just account for all of our wonderful(and not so wonderful) differences and move on. A lot of this has already been done, however, though we still have a few more steps to take.

tl;dr version: We try to treat people equally, while forgetting that we are different. Change that way of thinking, and discrimination starts to die.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

Well, I think this happens because if black students want a club people are okay with that since they think something like "black people have a harder time in a white man's world" or "why do white people need pride when they're already the dominant culture?" You can argue whether that's true or not, but I think a lot of people find "white pride" at best unnecessary at at worse an endorsement of hate groups. I mean, in the US at least, it's easier to understand the reasons or need for forming a black pride group than a white pride group.

Why so? White people no more chose to be white than other races chose their race. Why can't a white person be proud of their heritage?

 

[twocows]

Because like we've been saying for centuries, humanity is not perfect, never was, and quite frankly, shouldn't be. I don't want to see a world with a bunch of idealist libertarians trying to beat every flaw out of hum--oh wait.

If they act as you say, they're not libertarians, they're fascists. Libertarians support personal freedom.

 

[Esper]

Why so? White people no more chose to be white than other races chose their race. Why can't a white person be proud of their heritage?

If I had to guess I think it comes down to the fact that most people would rather be proud of their national/ethnic heritage than just their race. You know, like St. Patrick's Day where people in the U.S. who have Irish heritage feel proud about it. You get white people who are proud of being Italian, or Swedish, or whatnot. Same with a lot of non-white groups. Korean, Filipino, Pakistani, etc. Plenty of black Americans don't know their specific heritage because of what slavery did to their ancestors so they know they're black, but maybe that's the most a lot of people can know so it's the closest thing they can celebrate. No reason to begrudge someone that. Now, with white people a lot of 'em have a good idea of where their ancestors came from. Maybe you think that shouldn't matter. I don't know if it should, but it's a difference. I could be completely off the mark. Maybe a lot of black people would prefer to have pride in their race over a specific national heritage. I guess a lot of people wonder why white people would rather have pride in their race over pride in something cultural.

 

[aruchan]

There is a difference between racialism and nationalism. Racialism is pride for that rigid classification called Black, White, etc. while nationalism and nationalistic pride is okay. Black pride is different from white pride; while white people usually cling to a certain ethnic identity, black people, especially in the US, do not know what country their ancestors hail from (it would be pointless even if they did, because the current countries have arbitrary borders assigned by the European powers). White pride is usually a thinly veiled form of white supremacism, as whites don't have much reason not to show solidarity--in America, whites have always had a chance at prestige, riches, and were never really oppressed.

So, while we do eventually abandon our discrimination towards one group, it would be fallacious to say we scapegoat another. It is quite rare for racism to spontaneously arise; usually, it just rises in intensity (like anti-Semitism in Germany before WWII).

 

[s0nido]

That pretty much sums everything up. XD
Seriously, that's pretty much it. Humans are going to hate something somewhere. It's impossible to live in a world without any discrimination. What we need to avoid, however, is having these people come to power and make discrimination a part of our legal system. This is where the problem will arise.

 

[Saltare.]

Ironically, we just finished a project on discrimination in my career management class. It's quite sickening that people are being discriminated for who they are.

The severe E.C. students at my school are constantly laughed at. One of my good friends is gay and is in a great realtionship with his boyfriend, but he wants to keep it quiet because he's afraid of being ridiculed.

People shouldn't be discriminated because of who they are.

 

[Steven]

I don't know, but I know in America every time the Bible is inspiration for the hatred. Every single time.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I don't know, but I know in America every time the Bible is inspiration for the hatred. Every single time.

Not always for example Social status isn't due to the bible along with a lot of other things, Most of the time it's been due to ethnicity and race or economic status, sex, ect. or simply just hating everyone who is different.

 

[Dawn]

If they act as you say, they're not libertarians, they're fascists. Libertarians support personal freedom.

Perhaps you're right. However, I was honestly trying to put more emphasis on the idealist part, as I would never imply that libertarians are evil, only that certain kinds of them can be misguided.

I honestly don't know enough about the intricate details of fascism to explain how an idealist libertarian manages to wind up acting in a way you deem fascist. I somehow feel stupid for not being able to do this.

However, I've seen examples of what I described in my earlier posts happening. People fighting for "personal freedoms" take it too far to the the point that their morals and ideals (and anger) have interfered with the democratic process. They somehow think that because they've found a way to justify their point of view everyone else should see it their way, and if they don't they should be ignored. They also seem to get it in their heads that the "stupid majority" doesn't matter, because they're "right" "morally justified". Etcetera.

In reality, I believe it is their job to work within democracy to convince others to take their side. Results wouldn't be as fast, but oh well. If they've made a good case, it'll happen sooner or later.

Sadly, in the examples I'm thinking of, the democratic process failed because people caved in to what was essentially very angry protesters. This worries me because it teaches people they can get away with that, that if they rage and threaten hard enough, long enough, and with enough numbers, even if they /lost/ fair and square, they can get their way.

I don't know, but I know in America every time the Bible is inspiration for the hatred. Every single time.

Ugh... I'm accusing your statement of being unfounded. Theoretically, you were supposed to back up your statement in the first place, as you did the initial accusing, but hey, screw that noise. So just go ahead and provide some supporting argument now.

 

[Belinda]

To be honest the list just goes on and on and will never stop. In this day and age I doubt discrimination will burn off that easily. Just my opinion.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

It's sad but I think we humans will always have infighting (discrimination)...at least until we unite to discriminate against a new species (Aliens?) or group of people...