Binary bigotry is a term I have coined because of the ‘unthinking’
likes and shares in social media of hateful memes. I have seen several
social media posts (shared by people I know) that use direct comparisons to create
an emotive response to promote racism and bigotry.
I’ll give you an example; a picture of a homeless white man,
and a picture of a crowded boat full of migrants, with a caption on the lines
of ‘Put our veterans before illegal immigrants’. Or similarly, a comparison
with our elderly community and the loss of heating benefit and immigrants claiming UK benefits[1].
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| Not everything is black and white |
These are not realistic comparisons; these memes are created
purely to promote a racist point of view and, by using simple binary
comparisons, they get shared because the ‘choice’ is put clearly. But that’s
not the real choice. I’ll use my own example:
Would you rather pay a £300 winter heating allowance to a
millionaire pensioner[2]
than provide basic food and housing to someone who was beaten and tortured in
their home country and risked their life to reach the UK to escape certain
death? Or even, do you think we should be paying £16,000 a week to look after an
excluded child ‘criminal’[3],
or pay for more teachers in our primary schools?
It’s all about perspective. I would no more use the above
comparisons – the ‘binary’ choices – than I would the former. Binary bigotry is
clever, it uses emotive subjects to create a sense of injustice and promote a
strong, often racist, response.
Binary bigotry lumps huge
groups of individuals into one 'identifiable' category. Those seeking asylum legally, homeless, veteran, elderly, it doesn't matter - they are collected into a single meme and there is no room for nuance.
I would love social media to show more balanced, informed
content, but – probably like this article – it doesn’t have the impact that
such binary bigotry can engender. Any kind of binary thinking can be
limiting[4],
and that - in my opinion – is very sad. But saddest of all is the willingness of people to share unthinking hate.
I have put several references in this article – please read
them, I am no psychology or political expert, I do not have the answers, I just
want to highlight the danger of this simplistic form of hate promotion.
Please note: This article represents my personal experiences and opinion and does not relate to my professional life, the position of my employer or any of my connections.
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