Does this really qualify as bigotry?
I have always associated bigotry with immutable and fundamentally defining characteristics -- race, gender, that sort of thing.
His action may be discriminatory -- as most human actions are to one extent or another, discrimination being an essential life skill. But bigoted?
The French and German people chose their rulers. Not all of them, of course, voted for the present incumbents. But as members of the nation, they are implicated in the policies and statements of their chosen leaders. They might not agree with those policies or statements, but they are still made on behalf of all the people, not just those people who voted for the leaders. When France as a national policy votes a certain way in the UN, that is an act of all Frenchmen (using the term properly, not as a gender specific term), not just of those who agree with it And if America goes to war, all Americans are at war, whether or not they wanted it or not. I don't think it's bigoted of an Iraqui at that point to say to an American "you are at war with us." I don't think it's incumbent on an Iraqui to ask of each individual American "are you for or against the war?" before viewing that American as an emeny of their country.
They may choose to do that, of course. They may feel that certain Americans who have expressed opposition to the war would be welcome in their country while those who have expressed support for the war are not. But I don't personally see the refusal to do that as bigotry.
If treating a person differently merely because they are of a different nationality is bigotry, I think that diminishes the term. Because, for example, my own state is therefore bigoted because it treats residents of other states differently than residents of its own state. The US is bigoted because it will give passports to its own citizens but not to French citizens, so that at least that level of service is not available to certain people based purely on their citizenship.
To me, those things are not bigotry, and to call them that takes away the moral power of the term properly used.
So I frankly don't see his ac |
