Sometimes we think that bigotry only applies to the "old standards." Racial bigotry. Anti-semitism. Gay bashing.
Yet, prejudice can exist where some of us have no clue that it is actually occurring. Megan McArdle has a post today that highlights just this sort of prejudice: coastal privilege.
I'm surprised--though I shouldn't be, of course--that any number of liberals who are (presumably) comfortable with concepts like unconscious discrimination and privilege when it comes to race, have not even stopped to consider that the same sort of thing might be operating here.
Let's be honest, coastal folks: when you meet someone with a thick southern accent who likes NASCAR and attends a bible church, do you think, "hey, maybe this is a cool person"? And when you encounter someone who went to Eastern Iowa State, do you accord them the same respect you give your friends from Williams? It's okay--there's no one here but us chickens. You don't.
Maybe you don't know you're doing it. But I have quite brilliant friends who grew up in rural areas and went to state schools--not Michigan or UT, but ordinary state schools--who say that, indeed, when they mention where they went to school, there's often a droop in the eyelids, a certain forced quality to the smile. Oh, Arizona State. Great weather out there. Don't I need a drink or something? This person couldn't possibly interest me.
Personally, I don't think that this sort of elitist privilege is exclusive to the coasts. I see it right here in middle America Twin Cities all the time.
Laughter grips them as they consider the ridiculous notion that we could actually have a vice president who did not receive advanced degrees from an Ivy League school. Their lips curl with a sneer when people have the failure of fashion sense to wear the "right" clothes. These people live in the "right" neighborhoods, shop at "cool" boutiques and dine at trendy bistros. Wal-Mart? Olive Garden? Well. "Those people" frequent such spots; they wouldn't be caught dead in them.
We all have our "cliques" - no matter who we are. I am as guilty as others with it; well, perhaps I shouldn't go that far. Let's simply say I'm not immune to this phenomenon.
What we need to realize, however, is that it really is wrong to demean and reject people outside of our own familiar comfort zone. People can attend Easter Iowa State University and be capable, wise individuals. Hey; people can even fail to start, or finish, their college education and become successful. (Bill Gates, anyone?)
I believe that part of the Sarah Palin surge is related to middle America finding a hero. They know that they have greatness within their ranks. People who never attended Harvard yet are brilliant. People who live in small towns yet live important lives. Living in Manhattan and surrounding oneself with the finest of everything does not mean that those who do not have that can't be exceptional people.
To think otherwise is nothing more nor less than plain, old fashioned bigotry.
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