Sounding Off on Hatred 

A few years ago, I wrote an article about a rise in hate crimes in America because of a crime perpetrated against Muslim students in North Carolina. 

It’s funny how the more things change the more they stay the fucking same. 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but the hatred that’s being perpetuated throughout our country and even our world is despicable. White supremacists are protesting against people who want to tear down Confederate monuments, terrorists are plowing down groups of people with their cars, and the President of the United States is a useless, narcissistic body that speaks out of both sides of his mouth and calls for a war on media and Democrats instead of bringing the country together. 

Let’s be real…none of this is new, not really. Anyone who pretends that the Trump presidency has catapulted us out of some kumbaya utopia is a delusional revisionist. All of this hate that is coming to light has been there for decades — maybe even longer than that. 

Don’t get me wrong; Trump is a problem, but he’s not the problem. He’s a symptom of a disease that has existed since people started to care about things other than making a fire and surviving a night against a slew of animal predators. He’s a symptom of hate. 

Hate is not an inherent emotion. No one is born into hating anyone else. It is learned. Ever since we started categorizing ourselves into dichotomies, we have hated those not in our category. We fear the “other”, and hatred is born from that fear. 

Crack open a history book and every war, every conflict was started because of this hatred born from fear. Look at the Crusades, for instance. The Catholic Church feared losing its tight grip on the people of Europe and having to cede power over those people to Muslims. The policy was: they’re not white Christians, so of course, their religion is automatically inferior to that of the Christians’ and therefore, they must die. Thus began a hundred years worth of wars, the effects of which can arguably still be felt today. 

The Crusades, like any other conflict born out of this fear and hatred of the dreaded ‘other’, represents a larger illogical issue. Throughout history and right on into today, there seems to be a sense that in order for one group to succeed, the others all have to fail. 

I say that’s bullshit. 

Why does any one group have to be above another? Why do we have to have separate groups at all? Is our society really so oppressive that we can’t find it within ourselves to open our hearts and minds to new cultures, ideas, and experiences? 

I mean, seriously, it’s 2017 and there are Nazis roaming the streets. Honestly. How did we get here? Why is it so difficult for the politicians who are supposedly leading the country to outright denounce them? Look, it’s easy; repeat after me: White supremacy is wrong, antiquated, and asinine. Nazis are bad. I don’t condone nor do I support their agendas. 

See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?

It all boils down to this: hatred is what’s separating us. It’s senseless. It’s heartless. It’s brainless. Don’t let our generation be the one to continue this hatred into another one; let’s be the generation that stands up and says, “Not anymore.”