By: u/Crafter235
This has been something I have wondered about for a while, and while bigots and accepting people can exist in any generation, I just cannot help but notice how this is so prominent amongst a lot of Gen X.
From J.K. Rowling to Ricky Gervais to Dave Chappelle, I notice how people seem shocked that entertainers and creators that promote themselves as progressive turned out to be bigoted assholes, but when looking back in retrospect, it seems that there were a lot of red flags, or at least signs that they were fakers.
And yet, they got away with so much of just being “a product of their time”, but when looking at the bigger picture, it’s hard not to realize that it seems like it was so easy to pretend to be a progressive ally, and way too easy to be accepted and worshipped.
I mean, look at all those “brave” stories of writers going through so much just to have a vague 5-second moment of a gay kiss and being seen as some sort of revolutionary.
Of course for something so simple, they could easily hide their bigotry if standards are so low.
Why was this, and why such gullibility?
Consider in the 90s and early 00s. Soicity still considered saying “thats gay” to basically everything as a standard normal and entirely fine thing. Regardless of context or intention. So the plight of gay communities was basically invisible to the avg person. Most people didn’t know what a transperson was, or even really cared or knew that gender identity was a thing. If they did it was so far from what anyone talked about that it basically didn’t matter.
Everything was focused towards things like 9/11 and other major events that happened at the turn of the century that affected not only the US, but in turn caused drastic effects the world over by what the US then proceeded to do. Not to mention other regions and their notable events during the era.
The rise of the internet didn’t really happen for the avg person till 2010 and beyond, for the most part till DSL became standard the idea of social media was only for the small handful of people on IRC, fourms of the 00s. Which was mostly high schoolers and college kids, outside of the older folk that where entrenched in nerdy industries or hobbies which was few and far between.
So unless you personally knew people, all you really got was typically third or fourth hand information or what you picked up from reading maganizes in the check out at the store. For the most part the way infomation traveled didnt change in any meaningful way from around 1920 with the rise of the telephone till 2008-2010 when facebook finally reached its peak and was more then just the exodus of myspace kids, and the elders and parents started using it.
The idea of a inter connected world where you really know all this infomation about celeberities or really ANYTHING about people over seas beyond headlines. Has only been around for honestly? About 10-15 years.
From like the middle ages till 1840, anything beyond the next town over was the limit of infomation. From 1840 to 1920 you could have important infomation reach a small country. From 1920 to 2010 you could reach a nation of people one at a time. But from 2010 onward every person in the world can see anything about anyone at any time.
Basically every question along the lines of what you asked boils down to one simple thing. Communication between people for all of history was EXTREMELY limited. Connecting people makes it hard to hide. No longer can you wear a mask for a single interview, or lie to a reporter, move to the next town over. Suddenly become a new person.
Now your entire life follows you for all of your life. In all of human history that is NOT normal for 99.999% of people. All the other whys and hows and excuses all boil down to just taking advantage of this lack in communication. Oh someones racist but its too your advantage to let them? Then let them, cause whos going to find out. No one that would personally effect you! But today? That doesn’t happen with out PR problems. Minorities of all types now have voices, and their allies can see and send help.
Communication, is the single biggest if only core factor. The lack of it breeds problems, the over abundance provides relief.
I agree that communication is incredibly helpful better than 99% of the time. But I’m going to play devil’s advocate here for a moment.
I was raised in a casually racist town. Not maliciously, at least not that I saw. It was more “that’s just the way they are” and less “they’re lesser and evil and should be subjugated or eliminated” (that was a few towns over). I’m making the distinction because, while the end result comes down to the same thing the place where it comes from is entirely different. So I carried some of those attitudes and said some heinous shit out of ignorance. This would have been in the 90s and early 00s. But as I got out into the wide world, went into the military, and met people from all walks of life I realized I wasn’t just meeting a few “good ones”. People of color were just like me. Humans with strengths and flaws, open minds and biases, triumphs and defeats. So I changed the way I thought and acted.
I wouldn’t want that following me around for my entire life because some folks (especially online) really act like people aren’t allowed to grow and change. But I still believe more information is better than less.
I don’t know that there’s a real point to be found in that mess I just spewed. But I felt compelled so you all have to suffer the things that go through my head with me.