The fact that different people have different world views makes disagreements normal and the thing we must strive to live with. In today’s world, the level of intolerance that pervades our culture as a people is appalling and worrying. The level of intolerance is expressed through the numerous cases of deaths, insults and injury caused by the difference in opinions. The level of intolerance among people is wanting.
Leonard Pitts Jr. reviews an investigative report by Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors extremist groups. The report illuminates on the level of extremism caused by religious, political, social, and racial stands. The report cites incidents of deaths engineered by people who were dissatisfied or angered by the opinions of others or policies adopted. Incidents of mass murder triggered by trivial reasons such expression of anger against government of certain individuals, protest against LGBT, racism, religious-based hatred and political differences indicate the level of intolerance and love for war. Our behaviour towards those in power also speaks volumes. Political leaders face insults, attack on their families and even assassination attempts for attempting to bring unpopular positive change. Conservatives and racists, for example, oppose President Obama’s Medicare merely because they fear change or are racists. Leonard Pitts Jr. argues that a scary war culture has unfortunately become part of today's’ culture.
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Americans are more biased against people of different partisan affiliation. According to Ripley, Rekha & Angela recent research indicate that more people are likely to discriminate against people of different party affiliation during hiring, marriage, dating as well as judgments on important issues such as patriotism. Surprisingly a study conducted by Professor Diana Mutz, of the University of Pennsylvania concluded that highly educated, white people are relatively isolated from people of different political opinions (Mutz and Mondak, 146). In her research, Mutz identifies that minority groups in Americans are more tolerant of political conversations with people from different party affiliation and hence more appreciative of political diversity (Mutz, 45). Baker and Shear report the EL Paso killings in which a 21-year-old white man opened fire in a Walmart store leading to the death of 20 people and inflicting injuries on dozens to express opposition to the flow of Hispanic immigrants into Texas. President Trump has vehemently spoken against the flow of immigrants into America in his public speeches and Twitter with the intention of striking fear and rallying support for his anti-immigrant policies.
Persecution of people from minority religious groups has become a real-world concern. In New Zealand, 50 people were killed two consecutive shooting attacks, suicide bombings in Sri-Lanka during Easter left an estimated 259 people dead and at least 500 injured, 11 people were killed in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while at least 45 people were killed organized bombings during a palm Sunday in Egypt (Boorstein and Bailey). Numerous other religious-based killings have occurred in other paces striking fear across board. The witnessed killings proof high-level intolerance among dominant religious groups. Although there are disagreements about the trend of religious-based killings, the latest incidents indicate growing number of intolerant characters who are ready to kill people who hold religious opinions that are different from theirs. Notably, the perpetrators include a larger proportion of young people in some instances teenagers. This means that the long-held prejudices against different religions have been passed on from the older generations to the millennial. In my view, this may be interpreted to mean that religious-based animosity remains entrenched despite globalization and growing integration.
More people are sceptical about America’s progress on the issue of racism. Despite the abolishment of slavery through the enactment of the 13 th Amendment, traces of bias against minority groups such as blacks and Hispanic stills exists in form of racism. According to () 78 % of people from the minority groups think that the US has not made sufficient progress towards racial equality. An estimated 56% think that President Trump has only made racial relationships worse and are sceptical about whether the situation will improve in the future. The racism status is accused of contributing to the economic, social and health disparities in the US. A report published in 2016 by Urban League, a major civil rights organization in the US, compared the situation of the racial economic and social disparities between 1026 and 1976. The research identifies that whites remained twice more likely to get employed as compared to African Americans despite the level of education. The average household income among the African American families also remained more than 40% lower than the average income among white families. In the field of health, minority groups remain underprivileged mainly because of the high costs of medical care (Baciu, Alina, et al). African Americans are for example 30% more likely to die of lifestyle-related diseases as compared to white counterparts. Other examples of health disparities include lower life expectancy, high child mortality, higher rates of HIV/AIDs and higher probability of dying from communicable diseases.
In conclusion, the level of tolerance is wanting. The rising number of deaths related to religious, political, social, and racial intolerance reflects a growing “war culture” and diminishing “we agree to disagree culture”. Respect remains paramount despite social, political, religious, or even racial differences.
Works Cited
Amanda Ripley, Rekha Tenjarla, Angela Y. He. "The Geography of Partisan Prejudice." The Atlantic , 4 Mar. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/us-counties-vary-their-degree-partisan-prejudice/583072/.
Baciu, Alina, et al. "The State of Health Disparities in the United States." Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity. National Academies Press (US), 2017.
Baker, Peter, and Michael D. Shear. "El Paso Shooting Suspect's Manifesto Echoes Trump's Language." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia , 5 Aug. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/us/politics/trump-mass-shootings.html.
Boorstein, Michelle, and Sarah Bailey. "From Christchurch to San Diego, a Trail of Terror and Intolerance." Gulf News: Latest UAE News, Dubai News, Business, Travel News, Dubai Gold Rate, Prayer Time, Cinema , gulfnews.com/world/asia/from-christchurch-to-san-diego-a-trail-of-terror-and-intolerance-1.63612823.
Lee, Wayne. "Economic, Social Disparities Persist in US, Rights Group Contends." Voice of America , 17 May 2016, www.voanews.com/usa/economic-social-disparities-persist-us-rights-group-contends.
Leonard Pitts Jr. "The 'Culture War' is Real and Scary Race • The Nation is Changing, Which Makes Some People Feel Threatened. OTHER VIEWS." Stltoday.com , 8 June 2017, www.stltoday.com/opinion/editorial/the-culture-war-is-real-and-scary-race-the-nation/article_87a13c7d-6889-52e4-8f11-736e3f43cb42.html.
Mutz, Diana C. "Reflections on hearing the other side, in theory and in practice." Critical Review 25.2 (2013): 260-276.
Mutz, Diana C., and Jeffery J. Mondak. "The Workplace as a Context for Cross-Cutting Political Discourse." The Journal of Politics , vol. 68, no. 1, 2006, pp. 140-155.
