əˈneɪ| treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit. |
It started with the cognitive dissonance I felt after I ask the completely irrelevant question if 2 guys staying together as house-mates are gay (since both happen to be in the creative industry). Irrelevant as there's nothing wrong with being gay, and inappropriate as the main question should be on their friendship or creative talent.
Then, I realised upon greater observation in the next few days that discrimination and biaises are very much everywhere .. years after the apartheid and years into meritocracy, globalisation, whatever.
It's in ..
how when certain people group together, they are thought to do so as they are fellow country man, instead of how they are enjoy each other's personality and values.
how when a Chinese couple walks into a high class restaurant in Hong Kong patronized by mainly Westerners, they were informed in a lukewarm fashion on the limited seats available and told to wait, instead of a warm and earnest welcome that would typically be given to its Western clientele.
how when a significant part of America decides to vote for McCain-Sarah Palin mainly because Palin represents the female and is a typical motherly female, instead of her ability to co-lead the world's largest economy and resurrect it to its former glory. (yes, I know the political scene has been dominated by male for the longest time and that can be a 4th point as well but that's simply no reason to choose any female that emerges as an option )
And the interesting thing is anybody can be discriminated against, whether they are rich, poor, asian, westerner, black, white, ugly, pretty, religious, atheist, bisexual, gay .. so it's only when we can remove our biaises and respect/enjoy our differences that we truly get a chance at world peace and see people for who they really are.
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