While it is good that the legal capacity to discriminate against a class of citizens was reduced today, overturning DOMA is insufficient to create equality throughout the nation, so this is not over yet. But one of the things that today did provide was an opportunity to reflect again on the nature of discrimination. All discrimination proceeds according to the following pattern. Step One is to define an other, that which "we" are not and must not become. Step Two is to state why that other is different/inferior/immoral/depraved. Step Three is to identify the practical societal consequences of Step Two, in the form of the benefits of citizenship and community that should be withheld from individuals identified as “not us”. Step four, applicable to those who feel they can pick and choose among the seemingly limitless discriminations available, is to make the case for why discrimination against their chosen other is acceptable/justified/righteous, whereas other discriminations are not. Christopher Hitchens once pointed out how ironic it is that using the word “discriminate” in the context of this type of process overrides its other meaning, which is to make fine distinctions. He said: " ... the concept [discriminate] is absurd when applied to racists. “Discrimination” is something that they just can’t manage. Indeed, it is the very thing of all things that they cannot, by definition, manage. A racist is a racist precisely because he can’t distinguish between a Jew and another Jew, or an Asian or West Indian or Chechen. The “out” groups are all made up of generalized amalgams and there can be no exceptions." This gets to the absolute heart of the matter, and it is why we should all care about what happened today, and what needs to happen still. Everyone on the path of Steps One to Four is there because he or she refuses to see the individual humanity of certain others, because he or she is willing to shut the curtain on their dreams, and to deny their capacity for joy and pain. This denial of the humanity of others is why it is so important to fight every instance of discrimination. It is, obviously, a moral question, because it is wrong; it is a psychological question, because to live in a society where others are demeaned is to be demeaned oneself; and it is also a political question. We live in a country with a constitution and a bill of rights, in which one would not want to throw pennies into the fountain of those who are convinced that the black helicopters will be coming the day after tomorrow.This notwithstanding, there is absolutely no way that a society can allow any other to be identified without consequence; and there is no safe way to watch from a distance, while any other is being identified. The fact is that identifying a sub-human other was Step One on the road to Auschwitz, and Apartheid, and Rwanda, and has been Step One for every pogrom, and every genocide, and every law about who can drink from which fountain, and who can not, throughout the history of our sorry species. Here is one of the versions of the famous poem by Martin Niemöller: First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me- And there was no one left to speak for me. He should know. They did come for him.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 23:31:49 +0000
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