2008 Woodie Awards
Bozos on the loose
Jonathan Gold - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 3/28/07 Section: Opinions
I'm eternally grateful for the general stupidity of bigots. I remark upon this every time I meet one: "Thank you for being so stupid. I'm not the hottest burner on the stove, but I sure feel like it when I stand next to you. Thanks again, moron!" Sometimes I shake their hands and assure them that pointy white hats will be next year's fashion craze. Ironically, a bigot fashion show might be quite diverse. I can just picture bow ties à la Louis Farrakhan sharing the runway with crisply pressed Nazi brown shirts, as well as the iconic Klan whites.
The city commissioners of Largo, Fla., were presumably devoid of white hoods when they voted to fire City Manager Steve Stanton because he wants to have a sex-change operation. They gave the usual idiotic excuses bigots do when they want to seem mainstream: It's not that Stanton is transgender, it's that they suddenly have a problem with his competence. But the commission praised Stanton in his last annual evaluation, calling him "extremely competent" and "a fierce defender of our city," according to the St. Petersburg Times. See, now that he's a transgender person, they have a problem with his … competence. Sure. The real kicker is that he was taken to task for causing "turmoil" with his announcement.
This is the most common and effective excuse for officially sanctioned discrimination. "We're not racist/anti-Semitic/homophobic, it's just that it'll cause such a commotion if we grant this right to minorities/Jews/gays." It's sickeningly transparent on so many levels. Stanton was put on leave immediately after his announcement - there hadn't been a peep about his job performance until then.
Even if we grant the ludicrous premise, they're putting an official seal of approval on discrimination. "Don't ask, Don't tell" was enacted because the Army said openly gay soldiers could hurt morale. Similar things (and much worse) were said in the debate about black soldiers in white units, illustrating just how long this lame defense has existed.
This kind of half-concealed approval of bigotry is especially appalling because it's such a cop-out. Governments, almost by definition, have more power to change the societies they govern than any other institution and therefore, have the most responsibility to do so. When they bow to the prejudices of the hateful, they steal hope for change from the rest of us, and the fact some of us are still benighted and dumb is no excuse.
Whether it's a Bible-thumping Congress or a homophobic city commission, the enshrinement of discrimination has no place in society. Yet there it is, and, by and large, it looks about like the official version. It always starts the same way: "I've got nothing against gay people, but …" and you can fill in your own ignorant slur. How fascinating that all of these people - who, remember, have nothing against gays - are so worried about their kids being taught by gay teachers or healed by gay doctors.
The dangerous thing about this kind of low-level bigotry is that the individual instances of it are so mundane. Who's going to stage a protest march over some clown on the bus making dumb comments about a minority? Most people who have racist or homophobic ideas aren't Grand Wizards. But that his dumb comment goes unremarked, and, indeed, often echoed is dangerous. Hitler didn't need to persuade every German that Jews ought to be shot and gassed, he just needed to persuade every German that they didn't like Jews. Add up all the bozos who have some kind of ugly little bias, and you can start to see why we still see such hostility to something as innocuous as sexual choice. Throw in the tiny minority of foaming-at-the-mouth lunatics, and you've got a country that still has a truly embarrassing amount of mindless hatred.
If you happen to be one of these bozos, don't get upset. You're probably not, on balance, too bad of a person. Most bigotry springs from ignorance, not malice, so wake up and smell the diversity. Staying a bozo is just not an option anymore.
DI columnist Jonathan Gold, as you have probably guessed, really likes the word "bozo." He thinks it sounds kind of Spanish, or maybe Italian. E-mail him at:
jonathan-gold@uiowa.edu.
The city commissioners of Largo, Fla., were presumably devoid of white hoods when they voted to fire City Manager Steve Stanton because he wants to have a sex-change operation. They gave the usual idiotic excuses bigots do when they want to seem mainstream: It's not that Stanton is transgender, it's that they suddenly have a problem with his competence. But the commission praised Stanton in his last annual evaluation, calling him "extremely competent" and "a fierce defender of our city," according to the St. Petersburg Times. See, now that he's a transgender person, they have a problem with his … competence. Sure. The real kicker is that he was taken to task for causing "turmoil" with his announcement.
This is the most common and effective excuse for officially sanctioned discrimination. "We're not racist/anti-Semitic/homophobic, it's just that it'll cause such a commotion if we grant this right to minorities/Jews/gays." It's sickeningly transparent on so many levels. Stanton was put on leave immediately after his announcement - there hadn't been a peep about his job performance until then.
Even if we grant the ludicrous premise, they're putting an official seal of approval on discrimination. "Don't ask, Don't tell" was enacted because the Army said openly gay soldiers could hurt morale. Similar things (and much worse) were said in the debate about black soldiers in white units, illustrating just how long this lame defense has existed.
This kind of half-concealed approval of bigotry is especially appalling because it's such a cop-out. Governments, almost by definition, have more power to change the societies they govern than any other institution and therefore, have the most responsibility to do so. When they bow to the prejudices of the hateful, they steal hope for change from the rest of us, and the fact some of us are still benighted and dumb is no excuse.
Whether it's a Bible-thumping Congress or a homophobic city commission, the enshrinement of discrimination has no place in society. Yet there it is, and, by and large, it looks about like the official version. It always starts the same way: "I've got nothing against gay people, but …" and you can fill in your own ignorant slur. How fascinating that all of these people - who, remember, have nothing against gays - are so worried about their kids being taught by gay teachers or healed by gay doctors.
The dangerous thing about this kind of low-level bigotry is that the individual instances of it are so mundane. Who's going to stage a protest march over some clown on the bus making dumb comments about a minority? Most people who have racist or homophobic ideas aren't Grand Wizards. But that his dumb comment goes unremarked, and, indeed, often echoed is dangerous. Hitler didn't need to persuade every German that Jews ought to be shot and gassed, he just needed to persuade every German that they didn't like Jews. Add up all the bozos who have some kind of ugly little bias, and you can start to see why we still see such hostility to something as innocuous as sexual choice. Throw in the tiny minority of foaming-at-the-mouth lunatics, and you've got a country that still has a truly embarrassing amount of mindless hatred.
If you happen to be one of these bozos, don't get upset. You're probably not, on balance, too bad of a person. Most bigotry springs from ignorance, not malice, so wake up and smell the diversity. Staying a bozo is just not an option anymore.
DI columnist Jonathan Gold, as you have probably guessed, really likes the word "bozo." He thinks it sounds kind of Spanish, or maybe Italian. E-mail him at:
jonathan-gold@uiowa.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
deryl muhammad
posted 3/28/07 @ 2:36 PM CST
Jonathan I guess Prophet Musa is shaking his head at his community of people. Under Musa homosexuality was against the law and still is I guess you missed that in Torah study. (Continued…)
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