Lately, we have seen a flood of hate crimes. A white supremacist walks into the Holocaust museum and guns down a kind black guard. Another man, an anti-abortion fanatic, murders a doctor who provided women with abortions for unwanted, and sometimes life-threatening pregnancies. The list goes on and on. Internationally, in the media, and in our neighborhoods, hate and intolerance seem to spew forth from every corner, and there are numerous signs that it’s only getting worse.
Why? As a writer, university professor, and a teacher of young people, I write frequently about hatred and prejudice, trying to understand it. Despite humans’ ability to reach out and love others, there is a deep, irrational desire in many of us, to make everyone look just like the face we see in our own mirror. And not just the face, but the emotions and belief systems, the politics and religion and gender orientation behind the face as well. Whether we admit it or not, often we want everyone else to be just like us. To hell with diversity, which makes us uneasy and stirs us to rage, let’s all be identical, interchangeable parts in a cookie-cutter world.
One of my recent novels, Beyond Those Distant Stars, explores an extreme manifestation of such hate in a science-fiction future. Published by Mundania Press (www.mundaniapress.com), it features a cyborg woman, part human/part machine, who alone can save humanity from alien invaders. Yet time and again, Stella is mocked, despised, and stupidly opposed simply because she is different—a difference, by the way, that she cannot help, just as all of us cannot help the color of our skins, our sexual preferences, or the beliefs we hold.
Here’s my belief: It’s time we looked beyond the face in the mirror and saw and accepted others. Black, White, Straight, Gay, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, Midgets and Mystics and Muslims: All should be accepted as long as they accept us and don’t wish us harm in return. In the end, the Golden Rule is best, ignored and broken as it may be.
Recently:
- More Stately Mansions, Cosmic SF, to be Published by MuseItUp Publishing on March 1, 2011
- Check out SFR Brigade (See Link Below.)
- VACATION READS {FANTASY} BLOG TOUR – FREE PRIZES AND GIVEAWAYS!
- Two More Great Reviews for Beyond Those Distant Stars
- BEYOND THOSE DISTANT STARS Receives a Rave Review
- Guest (Writer) Post: Hamish MacDonald
- BEYOND THOSE DISTANT STARS WINS AWARD
- PLEASE WELCOME MY DROLLERIE PRESS GUEST, HEATHER INGEMAR
- A Great Review for “GREEN IN OUR SOULS,” by Janie Franz
- PLEASE WELCOME MEREDITH HOLMES, THIS MONTH’S DROLLERIE PRESS GUEST!
Comments
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 13th, 2009 at 11:07 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
What disturbs me as much as the sheer viciousness of these mindless crimes is that there seem to be some TV programs that pass themselves off as news who almost seem to be inciting this type of hatred. They were quick to blame the doctor for his own death, the black man being shot at a Holocaust museum was ‘incidental’ and not a hate crime. Groups that fight to keep protection from teenage gays and transgender kids or even deny they exist. Sometimes I think the world we live in is getting uglier. I think one thing we can do as writers is address this through our fiction. Show that tolerance and respect is a basic human right and who knows, maybe the next generation will be more tolerant.
[Reply]
Thanks for commenting, Pat.
TV programs are a problem. Most writers support free expression and the First Amendment, but the media sometimes provide an outlet for fringe elements and hate speech. How far do we go to support the right of crazies to spew their filth and incite such crimes? I have no easy answer, especially since any censorship could be directed at us, the writers.
In a way, Dave Letterman’s joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter was a hate crime. Or maybe it was just stupidity. I don’t condone it, but then, late night comedians should have the right to tell jokes that are in poor taste — as long as they don’t cross the line. Question is, precisely where is that line drawn?
I agree that writers should speak out against violent crimes based on hatred and prejudice. Also, we need to remember that not all violence will be the overt physical type. Sometimes it may come with a handshake and an ostensibly friendly smile.
[Reply]