Conservatives, liberals, bigots?

I would like to share one of the lessons I learned while I was a student, one that many might find interesting, regardless of their political leaning.

Those who have been an unfortunate victim of discrimination are usually quick to assert that the most prejudicial of people are usually those who have conservative political views, and that those who are more accomodating are usually those who have liberal political views. However, many of my conservative friends will be quick to cry foul and assert that they are most certainly not bigots. So the question is: Is bigotry a conservative trait?

Unfortunately, if one were to look at the history of bigotry in this country, conservative politicians have not had a very good track record compared to liberal politicians. And if I am to think back on my own experience while I was still a student living in the dorms, the openly racist people I have had the misfortune of encountering were also self-proclaimed conservatives.

In fact, it is because of such encounters that I decided to avoid the conservatives in the dorms by transferring to a "co-op" house. I'm talking about housemates who religiously recycle everything, are mostly vegetarians and/or eat only organic foods, or are very active in organizations like Amnesty International and Greenpeace. A lot of the women refused to shave or wear a bra, some of the folks were openly gay, some voted for Ralph Nader.... You get the picture. So, living with all these so-called "granolas", you're probably thinking I was treated with nothing but tolerance and understanding, right? Wrong. Imagine my surprise.

Of course, most of my housemates were the best people I ever lived with, and were indeed quite open and accomodating to me. I could say the same thing about almost all of my dorm-mates. But then there were those few who asserted to me that all Christians like me are hypocrites. What was disturbing to me is their tone: it was almost exactly the same tone as the very few dorm-mates who asserted to me that all racial minorities like me are inferior. Also, half of my ultra-feminist housemates would not even speak ONE word to me, after I had introduced myself as a devout Christian. It made me feel exactly the same way as I did with the right-wing dorm-mates who would not even look in my direction. One of my anti-Chrisitan housemates lamely offered that I was an "exception". Just like my racist dorm-mate who lamely complimented Asians to be "better" minorities.

I have often looked back on these experiences, thinking about how easy it is for us to try and over-simplify the people around us. It is so tempting to try and squeeze people into categories or labels. But then that is what a bigot does. But here's the really ironic question: Doesn't this include people who label others as "bigots"?