(from Loudoun County High School – Wikipedia).
The Latest Iteration In Bigotry
Because each word represents a concept, the etymology of a word can be eye-opening. Consider bigot | Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com) and prejudice | Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com). The etymology of the term “bigot” is uncertain, but what is known of the word “bigot” suggests a certain amount of stereotyping (Stereotyping | Definition of Stereotyping by Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com)), which suggests the word “bigot” may have ironically originated because of a prejudiced attitude. The origin of the term “prejudice,” on the other hand, seems to be a bit more appropriate.
As the etymology of the word “bigot” suggests, before we call others bigots and prejudiced, we need to do a self-examination. Are we calling others bigots because we ourselves are bigots? Could be.
Where does bigotry start? Where do we first acquire our foolish prejudices against other people? Where do we learn to stereotype other people and to inappropriately apply those stereotypes? That is, instead of trying to learn what others believe and know, how they actually behave and what they can do, where do we learn to prejudge others based upon their race, creed, ethnicity, sex, or some other immutable characteristic? Don’t we learn bigoted behavior from the people who teach us?
In earlier times, the primary teachers of children were family members: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings and so forth. Now children spend large amounts of time in public schools, Therefore, what children learn in school has gained great importance. Even though we expect children to learn good things in schools, the people running the schools can be just as flawed as anyone else. Hence, if they are not stopped, politicians with idiotic beliefs may pass their own foolish prejudices onto our children.
Here we have an example. Consider what the Loudoun County School Board wants taught in the schools they run.
- Teachers Compile List Of Parents Who Question Racial Curriculum, Plot War On Them | The Daily Wire
- VA Teacher WRECKS School Board, Critical Race Theory: ‘You DO NOT Speak for US’ (Watch) – RedState
- Virginia county spends nearly half a million on race programs for schools (nypost.com)
- A Parent Who Criticized Critical Race Theory Has Been Placed on a Hit List for Harassment by Katie Pavlich (townhall.com)
- Teachers Make List of Parents Who Disagree with Critical Race Theory Curriculum, Plot to Expose Them | Human Events
Do these stories sound absurd? Why would anyone want to teach children to become bigots? Well, we will get to that, but that is not the subject of Part 2. In Part 2 we will look at the kind of bigotry that the Loudoun County School Board wants to promote.
To be continued.
- Part 2: What Kind Of Bigotry Does The Loudoun County School Board Want Children Taught?
- Part 3: When The Foundations Are Destroyed
Prince William-Manassas Family Alliance 
Reblogged this on boudica.us and commented:
H/T Citizen Tom
Thanks!
You may want to keep in mind, that originally the word “bigot” was applied to religious people, see etymonline ( “sanctimonious person, religious hypocrite,”) or the Oxford English Dictionary (1. a. A hypocritical professor of religion, a hypocrite. b. A superstitious adherent of religion., 2. A person obstinately and unreasonably wedded to a particular religious creed, opinion, or ritual.). I am not aware, that “bigot” has completely lost that religious connotation, but you are the native speaker here.
@marmoewp
I am a bit confused about the need for your comment. I cited a dictionary that gives the etymology of the word “bigot”. Since word originated in the 1590’s, when the religious conflict in Europe was hot, it does have an association with religious intolerance.
Frankly, the most prevalent and vicious sort of intolerances relate to foundational beliefs. Religious beliefs? I suppose so. That is, we tend to get most angry with people whose worldview — whose beliefs about how and why we exist — conflict with our own. Why is that so? Well, it has little to do with Christianity.
1. Consider how people react when someone tells them that what they are doing is wrong. Because the Bible enumerates various sins, just telling some people you are a Christian can anger them.
2. Consider what people do they see people shamelessly violating community standards. Parading in public without clothes is not a good idea in some places.
3. Consider what rulers do when a belief conflicts with their quest for wealth and power. Try telling the ruler of a Communist state you won’t obey him.
The third example is the one that tends to provide the most bloody and durable conflicts. Because Islam and Communism are both religious and political systems, their adherents, especially the Communists, have killed people by the tens of millions.
Since Islam goes back to the 7th Century, it is hard to say how many have died resisting violent Islamists. Those who might have researched the matter were too busy researching the religious wars among Christians in Europe or the crusades to capture the Holy Land, we don’t know as much as we might otherwise. Those conflicts ended, however, because there is nothing in the Bible that justifies such nonsense.
Let me comment on the following portion of your blog …”Where does bigotry start? Where do we first acquire our foolish prejudices against other people? Where do we learn to stereotype other people and to inappropriately apply those stereotypes? That is, instead of trying to learn what others believe and know, how they actually behave and what they can do, where do we learn to prejudge others based upon their race, creed, ethnicity, sex, or some other immutable characteristic? Don’t we learn bigoted behavior from the people who teach us?
My Comment: America and the World received a four-year-long course in this kind of bigotry during the days when Donald J. Trump was president of The United States. Let this serve as a prime example of how this kind of bigotry starts, grows and is maintained.
@John
You are making an unsupported accusation. Why? I have seen the news media and politicians repeat fabrications — lies — for years on end. They get away with this because we don’t take the time to verify they are telling the truth. Sometimes, we don’t even want to know the truth. We want to believe the lie, and that says something very sad about us.
Actually we are too pampered and lazy as a nation to work toward verifying anything.