Prejudice and bigotry have been with us for a while. And when they manifest themselves, it’s our duty to stop attacks and fight the attitudes.
When an intoxicated IU student, Triceten Bickford, attacked a headscarf-wearing Muslim woman Oct. 17, we were shocked. The attacker spouted racially-charged slurs about white power before strangling the woman outside Sofra Cafe. Bystanders and police officers stopped the suspect.
In the wake of an FBI investigation, the student was expelled and the community openly condemned all forms of violence. We proceeded to show support for those affected by hate crimes.
But hate crimes are only the surface of the problem. Our beliefs and prejudices run deeper than their manifestations as actions.
No doubt, the woman’s headscarf, was a huge factor in the attack. A headscarf would allow others to easily identify her as a Muslim and — to some people — an “outsider.” This is where prejudice begins: not at a Klu Klux Klan rally or slave plantation but in our own judgments.
Though we make judgments about others we must be mindful about how we make them. If those judgments are rooted in irrational fear or ignorance, then we must dismiss them.
It’s clear whatever motivated the hate crime was this judgement. While few people would physically attack a woman in a headscarf, how many of us have felt irrational fear in the presence of similar people?
Though the hate crime was directed at a Muslim woman, it was indeed an act of white supremacy. Though Islam is not a race, the race of the victim was irrelevant because, in the eyes of Bickford, “white supremacy” is a way of keeping certain groups of people in power. When that power is threatened, these feelings manifest as though the victim were non-white. The victim’s identity as a Muslim was enough for this student to see her on the same level as a non-white person.
Though the student’s intoxication certainly affected his state of mind it doesn’t excuse him from the crime. If anything, it exacerbated his racism and hatred for others.
Similar systematic forms of oppression have one and the same motivation: prejudice. We feel threatened by outsiders. Sure, students at IU find themselves victims of prejudice in all forms, but we don’t need to witness racism or sexism to know how to stop it. We only need to understand our thoughts and judgments on a day-to-day basis. When we live with these fears and irrational ideas about threats, we succumb to terrible thoughts and behavior. Though the entire community has been shocked by the recent hate crime, can anyone say they are truly surprised?
The fear is within each of us, and we have the power to stop it before similar events happen again. We can fight these attitudes by promoting culturally-minded activities, supporting local ethnic groups and encouraging diversity among each other.
In the midst of the prejudice in Indiana, we still struggle with hate crimes, racism and similar threats. Bloomington might have safe areas but until we can respect everyone the real enemy will remain among us.
