why can't we be racist?

i don’t think racism, homophobia, or most other forms of discrimination are automatically a problem on an individual level.

people dislike other people for all kinds of reasons.

their personality.

their politics.

their religion.

their appearance.

their lifestyle.

their behavior.

so why are certain reasons treated as fundamentally different?

people point to hate crimes, but the obvious problem there is the crime.

if someone assaults you because of your race, that’s horrible.

but would the assault somehow be better if they did it because they hated your personality instead?

the damage is still the damage.

the crime is still the crime.

on a systemic level, discrimination is a different conversation because institutions have power over people’s opportunities, rights, and treatment.

but when we’re talking about one individual simply disliking another individual, i’m not convinced the reason they dislike you is automatically a societal problem.

sometimes people just don’t like people.

do with that what you will…