Bigot

In Merriam-Webster: a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices especiallyone who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.

In this post, I propose a kinder, gentler definition. My definition removes the word “hatred,”  meaning that, for me, bigots are often not guilty of hating, but they are always guilty of intolerance, a “little b” bigot if you will.

Little b bigots of America, I have read the things you post, and those posts are revealing. I address you directly now:

I know how you feel. You are defensive about being labelled a racist. It makes you angry. Well, calm down. As I said, I am not calling you a racist.

Who or what are you then?

You are the ones who claim that the “Liberal” media is biased in favor of people of color who achieve a measure of success. You often make the same false claims in regard to the media’s coverage of successful women. Again, you are not a racist, because garden variety bigotry is not bounded by racial considerations. Your defining characteristic is that you immediately ridicule and object to any mention of success by anyone who does not fit your mold. The success of others diminishes you in absolutely no way!

You often exaggerate by saying that crimes against the “main-stream” are under-reported or not reported at all. You are, of course, selectively reading the news. The stories you claim do not exist are right in front of you.

Insidiously, you often single out Americans of predominantly African descent by saying they should drop any other concerns they may have in favor of putting a stop to “black crime”. Crime is everybody’s concern but pointing an accusatory finger in one direction as opposed to another is not helpful.

Shame on you! Your lack of tolerance is reprehensible!