The term ‘ginger’ didn’t become ‘mainstream’ just because of that South Park episode, I was being shot at, having acid thrown over me, stabbed, headbutted, punched, spat on, kicked, dehumanised, singled out, socially excluded, avoided, belittled, character assassinated etc since I can remember and to be fair I found that treatment was at its peak years before that South Park episode was even thought up.
Noticing my confusion here, I live in England and have never observed this level of prejudice. The kicking and punching I can just about believe, the acid is very implausible.
Yes, I think one person being shot at, having acid thrown over one, and being stabbed for being red-headed would have made the news. But something’s going on. A little time with google turns up a lot of people in England complaining about bullying of redheads.
I don’t think so, it does actually happen to some groups that suffer from severe prejudice (I believe its been known to occur in Northern Ireland), especially since the rest of the list is approximately in decreasing order of severity and it comes between ‘shot at’ and ‘stabbed’. It might be that one person has suffered vastly more prejudice than any of the English red-heads I have ever met or heard about prior to this point, or it might be that the source is exaggerating.
It makes sense that there would be variation, but saying local variation implies local correlation. Why would that be? Do people feel a need to be racist to about the same degree as their peers?
No, that seemed like the most likely explanation to me too. I don’t remember why I felt a need to ask. Maybe something about how the illusion of transparency can be especially bad in political discussions.
Noticing my confusion here, I live in England and have never observed this level of prejudice. The kicking and punching I can just about believe, the acid is very implausible.
Yes, I think one person being shot at, having acid thrown over one, and being stabbed for being red-headed would have made the news. But something’s going on. A little time with google turns up a lot of people in England complaining about bullying of redheads.
For some reason my brain interpreted this as an idiom (meaning harsh language or criticism or something), rather than a statement of fact.
Not sure if its supposed to be that.
I don’t think so, it does actually happen to some groups that suffer from severe prejudice (I believe its been known to occur in Northern Ireland), especially since the rest of the list is approximately in decreasing order of severity and it comes between ‘shot at’ and ‘stabbed’. It might be that one person has suffered vastly more prejudice than any of the English red-heads I have ever met or heard about prior to this point, or it might be that the source is exaggerating.
Another angle on throwing acid—it could have happened, but the risk and damage aren’t indicated.
It could have been a serious attack, with scarring or blinding as the result.
It could have been weak acid, immediately washed off, but very frightening in terms of implying a serious attack.
It could have been anything in between.
There’s apt to be local variation in intensity of prejudice.
Also, throwing acid is extreme behavior, but it’s quite possible to be unlucky and happen to be in the presence of someone who is unusually violent.
It makes sense that there would be variation, but saying local variation implies local correlation. Why would that be? Do people feel a need to be racist to about the same degree as their peers?
I’d call that extremely likely. If you have a different model, could you describe it?
No, that seemed like the most likely explanation to me too. I don’t remember why I felt a need to ask. Maybe something about how the illusion of transparency can be especially bad in political discussions.
It would still be good to propose alternate hypotheses.