Treating Minority Groups as Trash Often Backfires


I just finished a book, Alaric the Goth. Alaric was a hero among the Goths who led a destructive invasion of the city of Rome. It was toward the end of the Roman Empire.

The very limited information about Alaric and the Goths tells us the Goths were part of the Roman Empire's collection of countries and cultures. The Romans were experts is some ways at running their empire. Their military was better than anyone's, they negotiated collection of taxes and they exerted some pressure to conform but left some issues about religion and culture to their conquered areas. 

The Romans were were unsuccessful in one respect. They looked down on some groups who had been led to believe they would be full partners in the Empire. The Goths were one of these. Goth frustration with being treated as outsiders after supporting the Empire gave Alaric the support he needed to sack Rome.

I also reread tonight an article about the friendship between Frederick Douglass, the towering black attorney, and Robert Ingersoll, a white attorney who traveled constantly speaking for equal rights for many groups including women. These men lived during what some historians have said was the most secular 50 years in U.S. history, 1850 to 1900. Douglass said,   No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man, without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.  

The Democratic Party was part of slavery and segregation until these were outlawed. The political detritus left in the South was then swept up by the Republican Party. The latter then built on the detritus decade after decade and even today is scanning the horizon looking for groups to dump on. It's thinking is that picking out groups for white males to demonize will reap votes. Along with women, today's focus is on people who have experienced the wrong gender and changed. 

The wisdom of Douglass is recognized by some people in this country but not by all. There is a temptation to pick out those who are 1.) different and 2.) are a minority and demonize them for short term political gain. 

None of us can be sure those we demonize today will not be those who decide our fate at some point in the future. Best we treat everyone with respect. 

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