LYNCH MOBS ARE MADE FOR YOU AND ME: SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE BIGOTRY IN THE UNITED STATES

Two hundred and thirty seven years ago, in a small cramped room in Philadelphia, PA, a group of men sat sweating, swearing and sulking. They were there for one reason in this particular instance. To take a step that had never been taken before by any other group of men who had been appointed to make decisions for a population; whether or not to create a new country and break away from their colonial parent. These few men were making this decision for many reasons but above all others stood the idea that all people were entitled to live their lives without fear of persecution by their peers. At first the system was imperfect but a major step forward in this belief would be taken less than seventy-five years later at the close of the civil war. Yet another leap forward would come in another fifty years as woman’s rights became an important issue and finally forty years after that the largest of steps would occur with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. As anyone can easily see America has a long tradition of fixing the wrongs that its own citizens commit against each other; regardless of whether that injustice is slavery, voting rights, abortion rights or even lynch mobs. However, in the last thirty years of American history we have seen a shift from the revolution of equality that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. You may be saying to yourself that this isn’t true. We just voted for gay marriage in a large amount of States. I would say, however, that it is true. The difference is that in the current cultural state of American society we have shifted our focus to more socially acceptable people whom we can verbally attack and expunge from what we consider to be the norm.

                The first group that I would like to talk about is one of the most hated in our society currently; smokers. While at first glance it may be easy to say that they deserve it because you don’t want to smoke their cigarettes or that it is a filthy and disgusting habit, one must consider what those statements entail. Essentially we are talking about segregation. Adam Corolla recently said on the Bill O’Reilly Factor that “we look down more upon smokers than we do dead beat dads.” This statement struck a chord with me frankly and not only because it is true but it says something more about American society that we as a country may not be ready to accept. That message is that we have completely abandoned common sense in this regard. Or to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper, we have gone bat-crap crazy.” I’m willing to bet that today before you rushed home to read the newest offering from your favorite writer that you passed by over one hundred no smoking signs. I am also equally as positive that you passed by one hundred establishments and not a single one had a sign hanging on their door saying “no dead beat dads allowed.” This may seem like quibbling and perhaps it is to a certain extent but the underlying point remains that we are more than willing to attack a group of people for having a bad habit or making a bad lifestyle choice but not for abandoning their family or beating their children. When those topics come up it seems that everyone can agree that it’s bad but apparently not bad enough to put up a sign saying keep out. Telling people that their lifestyle decisions are wrong is the new way that American’s have found to feel morally and socially superior to each other and this brings us to the next group of people I would like to discuss; the obese.

                    To start this section of the discussion I would like to quote a few of our more successful citizens, beginning with the owner of Abercrombie and Fitch, Mike Jefferies. Recently in an interview with Business Insider the clothing mogul told his interviewer that he didn’t want “fat” or “not so cool” people wearing his clothes. This caused a large amount of blowback and the owner has since apologized for his remarks but he is not alone in his opinion of the larger part of the population. Not only are the obese not cool enough for the hippest clothing but apparently they are also stupid and lazy. At least that was what was tweeted by Geoffrey Miller, an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico and a visiting professor at New York University’s Stern Business School. Miller tweet was concise and to the point saying “Dear obese PhD applicants: if you didn’t have the willpower to stop eating carbs, then you won’t have the willpower to do a dissertation. #truth.” Of course the outrage came pouring in from the academic community but the question remains of how many schools when they interview someone for acceptance make a decision about them based on whether or not they are in shape and attractively thin. To go one step further from education we can look at business models where specifically airlines are now talking about weighing passengers and charging them by the pound. While practical given the nature of physics and how flight works this kind of policy will only accomplish the task of shaming a portion of the population and will more than likely lead to violent outbursts from people who are charged exuberant rates because they have an affinity for cheesesteaks and Hostess. It doesn’t stop with business though. The U.S. government has decided to get on board with this fatty-phobia as it has been nicknamed by some. Under the Affordable Care Act, more popularly known as Obamacare, the obese among us and their smoker friends will have to pay penalties simply because of who they are. Yet at the same time, a man or woman who drinks a fifth of scotch every two days will not. The targeting of the obese in American society has come to a precipice in my opinion. We are on the ledge of pushing those that we find visually unappealing or just downright disgusting off of it. Why you may ask. Not because they are truly hurting anyone but because we simply don’t like them and the choices that they have made. America is turning into a theme park of sorts where before getting on a ride you see the sign that says “you must be this person to ride this ride.”

                While smokers and the obese get most of the news there is one group who are just as abused as the other two and are more familiar with theme park signs than the others will ever be. That’s right, you guessed it. I’m talking about the vertically challenged or to use the last bastion of the weak minded, political correctness. Short people have endured ridicule for as long as I can remember and speaking as a historian I don’t think I’ve ever come across a time period that I have researched that they weren’t. Evolution is based upon strength and ability to survive. More importantly, when we look at a man who is 5’8” or shorter, as a culture, we do not see a survivor. We see someone who can’t play sports, can’t reach the top shelf and probably won’t date a lot of women, because let’s face it, as a culture women like tall men. We cast them as adorable comic relief in movies like the Austin Powers series, or we dress them up in makeup and call them a clown. Whatever the end result is, in modern society we discount this group of people in many ways based solely on height. This particular form of bigotry is different than those previously mentioned though because the people who suffer from it have no choice in the matter. Height as we are all aware is a matter of genetics. However, that doesn’t seem to stop many among us from cracking a joke at a short person’s expense. Because let’s face it, midgets are hilarious and should be there to entertain us.

              The simple fact of life folks is that bigotry isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Whether it’s people who are living in smog filled cities bitching about the smoker destroying their lungs in the car next to their SUV or a clothing retailer that tells someone to leave because they don’t fit the image or the sizes of their store. What’s important though is how we as a nation and as individuals treat these situations.  So I will send you into the world with a mission. The next time that you see a short, fat smoker, go over to that person and give them a big hug because as my Grandma used to say, “the good lord knows that they surely need it.”