There are all kinds of socially acceptable forms of bigotry.
Homophobia is not just socially acceptable, but practiced and celebrated every day, IME, especially in high schools; as a staff advisor for a high school’s Gay/Straight Alliance, and a mentor to that school’s LGBT youth, I consider myself an expert on that–and I can assure you that it is rampant, even in a school known for its tolerance and diversity in a city known for its gay-friendliness.
Bigotry against bisexuals is probably as socially acceptable among gay and lesbian people as it’s ever been, and not completely verboten in the heteronormative crowd either.
Bigotry against the transgendered has never gone out of style; the popular media, when it mentions them at all, describes passable MTFs as hideous freaks of nature whose sole purpose in life is to trick straight men. Nevermind the reality, which is that gay men almost universally find MTF transsexuals unattractive and that straight men make up almost all of their “market”, sexually speaking.
Any sort of racism, no matter how extreme, is considered perfectly fine as long as it’s couched in purely sexual terms–I recently saw a craigslist personal that ended with “Indians and blacks [sic] need not apply.”
It may not be socially acceptable to “point and laugh at fat people” anymore, but that doesn’t mean that fat people aren’t discriminated against. If anything, discrimination against fat people is way more socially acceptable than it was 50 or 100 years ago; do you think a modern Taft could really win a general election?
Looking or sounding Arabic is grounds for concern among many Americans–just look at the Republicans’ mass emails about Barack Obama.
By the way, lest you think that open racism has gone by the wayside, as a DNC campaign staffer I met all kinds of people who flat out told me that they would never vote for a black person–plus lots of others (Democrats, mind you) for whom that was clearly their motivation, but they wouldn’t come right out and say it.
Sexism is also alive and well, even if institutional sexism is largely a relic at this point.
In my corner of the world, bigotry against smokers and smoking is widespread. (In my last job, I had to change out of any clothing that identified me as an employee and leave any area that recognizably belonged to us before I could light up.)
People have always shunned those who are different, and they always will; more often than not, nobody stands up for the shunned.
I don’t think “large” is necessarily implied. We’re arguing semantics, but I would think that it’s bigotry if you both dislike that woman for being 7’7" and would react similarly to any woman with that particular disorder. I think you’re spot on about the anti-Semitism thing, though.
Yep. Every Hispanic-looking person who hasn’t mastered the English language is assumed to be an illegal Mexican immigrant. I had an enlightening :rolleyes: conversation with one of my employees (who I eventually had to recommend to be fired for his attitude in general–being able to respect people with differences is a must in grassroots fundraising) the other day:
Employee: Sometimes you talk to someone and you can just tell they’re an illegal immigrant.
Me: Really? How can you tell?
Employee: I just know.
Me: So you have an immigration status radar?
Employee: Yep.
Me: Seriously, there must be some clue you go off of.
Employee: Well, I mean, if they don’t speak English, they’re obviously illegal.
Me: What about the Venezuelan couple I met last week who has green cards, even though the husband doesn’t speak English?
Crickets: Chirp. Chirp.
Other than that one time in 2001 when hundreds (thousands?) of Arabic-looking people were being rounded up for interrogation by the FBI with no evidence against them? Assuming that “mainstream” includes a president who’s been elected twice, I mean.
