benelliott comments on Manufacturing prejudice - Less Wrong

24 Post author: PhilGoetz 03 April 2011 05:26PM

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Comment author: benelliott 02 April 2011 05:01:53PM 8 points [-]

The term 'ginger' didn't become 'mainstream' just because of that South Park episode, I was being shot at, having acid thrown over me, stabbed, headbutted, punched, spat on, kicked, dehumanised, singled out, socially excluded, avoided, belittled, character assassinated etc since I can remember and to be fair I found that treatment was at its peak years before that South Park episode was even thought up.

Noticing my confusion here, I live in England and have never observed this level of prejudice. The kicking and punching I can just about believe, the acid is very implausible.

Comment author: PhilGoetz 02 April 2011 06:09:00PM 3 points [-]

Yes, I think one person being shot at, having acid thrown over one, and being stabbed for being red-headed would have made the news. But something's going on. A little time with google turns up a lot of people in England complaining about bullying of redheads.

Comment author: atucker 03 April 2011 03:04:15AM 2 points [-]

acid thrown over me

For some reason my brain interpreted this as an idiom (meaning harsh language or criticism or something), rather than a statement of fact.

Not sure if its supposed to be that.

Comment author: benelliott 03 April 2011 08:41:11AM 2 points [-]

I don't think so, it does actually happen to some groups that suffer from severe prejudice (I believe its been known to occur in Northern Ireland), especially since the rest of the list is approximately in decreasing order of severity and it comes between 'shot at' and 'stabbed'. It might be that one person has suffered vastly more prejudice than any of the English red-heads I have ever met or heard about prior to this point, or it might be that the source is exaggerating.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 03 April 2011 11:09:02AM 1 point [-]

Another angle on throwing acid-- it could have happened, but the risk and damage aren't indicated.

It could have been a serious attack, with scarring or blinding as the result.

It could have been weak acid, immediately washed off, but very frightening in terms of implying a serious attack.

It could have been anything in between.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 02 April 2011 05:27:00PM 1 point [-]

There's apt to be local variation in intensity of prejudice.

Also, throwing acid is extreme behavior, but it's quite possible to be unlucky and happen to be in the presence of someone who is unusually violent.

Comment author: Pavitra 03 April 2011 04:06:29PM 0 points [-]

It makes sense that there would be variation, but saying local variation implies local correlation. Why would that be? Do people feel a need to be racist to about the same degree as their peers?

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 03 April 2011 05:02:15PM 4 points [-]

Do people feel a need to be racist to about the same degree as their peers?

I'd call that extremely likely. If you have a different model, could you describe it?

Comment author: Pavitra 03 April 2011 08:45:01PM 2 points [-]

No, that seemed like the most likely explanation to me too. I don't remember why I felt a need to ask. Maybe something about how the illusion of transparency can be especially bad in political discussions.

Comment author: Ritalin 01 December 2012 02:17:59PM 2 points [-]

It would still be good to propose alternate hypotheses.