Extreme levels of prejudice can manifest as strong dislike and hatred for everything related to the group against whom the prejudice is held. This usually comes about as a result of ignorance about a group of ‘outsiders’, mixed with fear from negative stories about how terrible such people are, and these ultimately leads to the development of hatred and intolerance for such groups of people.
Thus, prejudice sets the stage for behavioural actions which lead to discrimination against ‘outside’ members, and in extreme cases, culminate in violence and aggression against the hated ‘outsiders’ who do not belong to our ‘in-group’.
Different ethnic group and religious ‘in-group’ have ways of stereotyping and castigating others (outsiders) and these trends are increasingly becoming worse. The danger with this trend, is that it normalises harm to ‘outsiders’ and desensitises us from our collective humanity.
How do we reverse this dangerous trend and prevent us from continuing along this slippery slope to chaos and anarchy?
Role of government
The sense of belonging of every citizen is often in direct correlation with the feeling of being valued as individuals, and as communities. The sense of being valued, starts with the basics of inviolable right to safety of lives and property, as well as freedom of religious expression. The immediate next layer is the guarantee of justice and equity.
While it is true that all nations are continually striving to achieve these ideals, the extent of successful realisation determines the degree of satisfaction and the quality of life enjoyed by the citizens of such a country.
Failure to respect and uphold these basics also come with consequences: a heightened sense of insecurity, primitive fear, and anger which tends to amplify the negative cascade of events already outlined earlier – a resort to smaller and more closely knit affinities, using ethnicity and religious platforms.
These regressive behaviours, afford individuals the feeling of belonging, affinity and sense of security within their in-groups. Thus, the evils of stereotyping ‘out-groups’, leading to prejudice, anger and resentment, and ultimately aggression and violence are unleashed.The negative consequences are further fuelled by competition for scarce resources needed for survival.
It is therefore crystal clear that the emotional wellbeing of individual citizens as well as the communal sense of security and peaceful co-existence may either be enhanced or frustrated by the actions (or inactions) of government at all levels.
Role of traditional leaders
Traditional and community leaders should promote peaceful co-existence and reach out to each other to resolve and nip conflicts in the bud. Misunderstandings and historical stereotypes need to be challenged with exposure and interactions based on mutual respect.
Role of religious leaders
We are very religious as a people and we throng to mosques and churches on Fridays and Sundays for worship. Thus, the religious clerics command an important platform, the pulpit, from which they can influence minds and shape opinions. This power should be constructively utilised to heal rather than to divide; and to promote reconciliation, mutual respect and tolerance.It should also remind government officials about their duties to the citizenry.
Role of the mass media
The media organizations need to be more responsive about their civic duties and eschew sensationalism at the expense of ethical and responsible journalism. Some headlines are so misleading and often so mischievously crafted as to inflame passions and perpetuate stereotypes and prejudice – not to mention being less than factual. This is irresponsible, but is best self-regulated.
Role of the citizen
With the advent of the social media, every citizen now wields enormous power to influence and shape opinions via facebook, whatsapp messages, twitter etc. It is so very easy now to craft a message to suit your motives and share, with the caveat ‘copied or shared as received’. And it gathers a life of its own and spreads like wildfire.
We need to be more discerning and critical of messages received before forwarding or sharing. These fake messages often cause emotional turmoil, anger, resentment, frustration and sometimes a feeling of hopelessness that is inimical to our emotional wellbeing.
In conclusion, our emotional wellbeing, safety and peaceful co-existence is in our collective hands. We should nurture and protect it and not feed the monster of stereotypes, hatred and mutual distrust. Ultimately, the bulk of the responsibility sits squarely with the government to ensure an equitable society that we can all be proud of.
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