In my opinion, the amount of bigotry in my neck of the woods is the same as it has been all my life: rampant, yet largely hidden from the public eye.
Both of my parents are huge bigots. As are all of their brothers and sisters, and formerly, their parents. When I was growing up I hated hearing them talk that way and vowed to never let myself be so callous to any of my fellow humans. I can distinctly recall moments in my childhood where my father's hate filled rants literally brought me to tears. His anger scared me beyond words.
I was abused (verbally for the most part, but physically at least once) for being 'weak'.
I grew up completely disgusted with my parent's narrow minded view of the world, and tried as hard as I could to not be like them. I'm probably gonna get blasted for this, but I can only credit the media for helping me think the way I do today - I certainly didn't learn these values from my home life.
Now, as a kid I assumed that my peers, having grown up with like minded parents yet surrounded by the same enforcers of political correctness as I (the media as I said, but possibly my school and my scout troop as well), would think like me as well, ya know?
Not at all... the people I went to high school with, for instance, are all every bit as bad as my parents. And I know where they got it from: their parents. I heard many of my friend's parents speak just the same as mine over the course of my childhood. All I can guess as to why I'm not like them is that unlike me, they were unafraid of their parents' hate. They viewed it as normal, whereas I did not. I have a hard time blaming my peers for this - after all, we were only children. But at some point, that excuse stops working. At some point, you become old enough to make the decision for yourself. They chose wrong... but since the were raised by the wrong, they think they are right I guess...
Even if a person's parents weren't like that, they're not in the clear. All it takes is one bigot to infect the group - peer pressure can spread the feelings of hate from there. Luckily I was immune to the pressure as well, since, as a 'nerd' I was largely an outcast anyways.
Honestly, around here racism is the bigger issue, but homophobia is around all the same. Many people that have this hatred in their hearts seem to hold on to one distinct memory from their past to justify it. The following is the moment that my parents (and the rest of my family) use to hate gays:
I have an uncle who brought a boyfriend to a family function when I was a young child (about 5 years old). My memory is hazy, but I have 3 memories that, when filled in with info from my older brother, sum up the story the pretty well:
1. My grandmother shrieking. This was the moment she realized who the man with my uncle was.
2. A 2nd uncle and my father (who was an in law to this side) grabbing and literally throwing both men out of the house. This was the moment they realized who the man with my uncle was.
3. Me not seeing this uncle for about a decade (I grew up with this hazy memory of an uncle my parents insisted did not exist).
In most of my family's eyes, by bringing a man to this family function, my uncle hurt his mother. In other words, being gay hurt his mother. They refused to forgive him, until he came back around with a girlfriend (now wife). Only from there did they start to forgive him, but they still all mock him behind his back.
This brings me to the other half of my opening statement: I think a lot of people believe the world is in better shape, socially, only because the hate is now better hidden from the public eye. The last time I was in a restaurant with my parents (quite a while ago), the waiter did a perfect job. My parents were polite to him to his face, thanked him like normal. But once he walked away, in came the mocking, all because of his race. I haven't gone out with them since. I don't plan to do so ever again.
Between classmates and peers my age at my old job, this story is par for the course for many families. Gays, minorities, even women are viewed as 2nd class. I've given up argument with my family, they never listen as I have long since been labeled as 'weak', as I mentioned above. I have family members that call me the black sheep, heavily emphasizing the word black, if you catch my drift.
Honestly, I forgot where I was going with this... at some point typing this I went from anwering the question to getting wrought with the same emotions that have plagued my mind for the better part of the last 20 years. So I'm just going to stop, and post what I have typed. I'm honestly sick to my stomach right now, just from forcing myself to think about this stuff for the last hour.
EDIT: Oh yeah... my world will be exactly the same in 5 years. I can guarantee it. A few of the people I went to school with are already pregnant, so I guess that means a whole new generation of scum will already be infecting the world.
