As we come into the new year, let’s talk about “otherism,” the tactic of denigrating and objectifying an opponent, out group or minority, hobby, interest, or any alternative [viewpoint] by highlighting and amplifying differences and stereotypes in order to achieve support for a favoured group, position, or interest, etc.. Racism is a form of otherism, and probably the most well-known example of this prejudicial phenomenon. But I don’t want to talk only about race relations—although racial xenophobia is a major driver of otherism—I want to talk about otherism in more broad terms because I am preoccupied with concern about the exponential divisions in our society, not all of which can be attributed solely to race.
other [uhth-er]
verb
- to perceive or treat (a group or member of a group) as different, foreign, strange, etc.
Dictionary.com, other
To other someone or something is to alienate that person or thing. Now, with full awareness of the fact that my next statement can be considered an example of otherism by some, I want to highlight that this political tactic has been used and weaponised by one side of the “aisle” more so than the other. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that otherism has become the primary political tool for engaging voters on the Right today—though it is not exclusive to the Right—and it has become profoundly dangerous.
Anti-LGBT+
The second-most prolific form of otherism in the United States today is homophobia and transphobia, anti-LGBTQ+ speech and sentiment are increasingly pervasive elements in our political discourse. Arguments against the LGBT+ community range anywhere from accusing LGBT+ people of being pædophiles and “grooming” children into the “gay lifestyle” to satanic worship. On its face, that looks like hyperbole, but these are very real accusations levied against LGBT+ people every day.
Apart from the “traditional,” White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, heteronormative prospective, the LGBT+ community is one, primarily, centred around identity and self-expression. LGBT+ advocates are most concerned with the ability of all people—whether they be gay or straight, cis or trans, allo or ace—to identify and express themselves as they are. No one is advocating for the institution of a hegemony to rule society, invade your privacy, and enforce homosexuality on everyone. While some (seriously crazy) people might be afraid of that, that is not a thing. “The Gay Agenda” is to lead a normal life, full stop.
Racism
Racial xenophobia is the most prevalent form of otherism in the world. From antisemitism to white supremacy, racism is a persistent and prevalent attitude on the Right. There are countless examples of this form of otherism throughout human history, punctuating the development of empires and religions from East to West, North to South. Fascists denigrating and murdering Jews in Hitler’s Germany; Buddhists subjugating the Rohingya in Burma; the Ku Klux Klan’s terrorism of Black Americans; Chinese Communists persecuting Uyghurs and Tibetans; tensions between Czechs and Slovaks; the anti-Irish movement in 1850s to 1920s America; Japanese oppression of Korea, China, and other Southeast Asian nations and ethnicities during WWII; systemic police brutality against Black Americans… I could go on and on. The point is, humans are brilliant at creating artificial divisions and using otherism to exploit those divisions for gain or to advance a narrative of inferiority.
Racism is not a relic of the past, unfortunately. We still live with real, active racism—and I’m not just talking about micro-aggressions and passive discrimination—today. But, for some reason, we, here in America, like to tell ourselves that it’s over, that racism is a footnote in the dustbin of history. And that could not be farther from the truth. As recently as the 1960s the United States saw the wholesale, state-sanctioned destruction of prosperous Black communities wielding the construction of the Interstate Highway System as a weapon. A little further back in history, we witnessed the worst act of domestic terrorism in our history, an incident families are still recovering from today, which received few national headlines.
Tulsa, OK
If you think that racial otherism (again, that’s racism) is somehow benign or something from a far-distant past, look no further than the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. On 21 May 1921, in what is to this day considered the single worst act of domestic terrorism in the history of the United States, the white populace of Tulsa murdered, looted, and burned their way through the city’s Greenwood District and Black Wall Street neighbourhoods. The attack included an aerial bombing campaign—yes, they had literal airplanes dropping bombs on a domestic neighbourhood! Eyewitnesses confirmed the presence of the planes and bombs.
Yes, the Tulsa Race Massacre was 101 years ago, but when you consider that the Civil War was 1861 to 1865… well, 1921 doesn’t seem so far away from 2024. Over a thousand white civilians so reviled their fellow human beings, their neighbours, that they took up arms—going so far as to try to break into the National Guard Armoury—to murder and terrorise them.
Tremé, LA
But if 1921 is too distant a past for you, consider the case of Tremé, Louisiana. A thriving Black neighbourhood in New Orleans torn asunder by the Interstate Highway System in the 1960s. Hardly unique to Tremé, the Interstate Highway planning process was used to divide, destroy, and dissect Black neighbourhoods and business districts all over the country! This weapon is still being used today to “remove blighted” districts from the urban maps of our states. Inner-city highway projects, expressways, and beltways continue to be built every year.
Anti-Immigration
Immigration is a “hot-button issue” in the United States. It hasn’t always been, but it has always been a source of otherism. From Italians to Jews, Irish to Muslims, the issue of immigration has been an outlet for voicing fears and discrimination. Today, the conservative whites of the United States hold that anyone from south of Texas is bad, unwelcome, and unwanted. Mexico, Central America, and South America have all been written off as “unclean masses” undeserving of Lady Liberty’s welcoming embrace. And, ironically, the further into the future we go, people in the US and Western Europe are starting to look at Ukrainian refugees the same way as well.
There’s so, so much more I want to say about immigration, but it will have to come at a later time and date.
Classism
Classism exists everywhere, in every nation and every society. Those with more look down on those with less. There’s a contrived idea within classism that all of life is zero-sum, meaning that for one person, group, or class to gain a privilege, right, or luxury of any kind, another person, group, or class must lose something (usually that self-same privilege, right, or luxury). This is, of course, complete bullshit.
Again, there’s so much I want to say about class, but I do not have the energy right now!
Why?
The politics of fear are unsophisticated and simple: get the voters to other [noun], stoke and feed fear and resentment of [noun], proclaim that you are the solution to [noun]. That’s it. That’s what they’re doing. And they’re doing it extremely effectively.
When your only goal is to achieve, accumulate, and maintain a grip on power—the power to legislate, the power to administer, and the power to interpret; government power—the ends usually justify the means. I’ve talked about this in other areas before, for example, the undermining of our public education system in order to keep voters ill-informed and afraid of things they don’t understand. Republican politicians are, as I have said before over and over, concerned only with the accumulation of wealth and power. They are simply not interested in the unified advancement of society at large. They believe in classism and have a deep-seated desire to maintain the hierarchical structures which place them at the top with the greatest access to luxury resources.
If you don’t believe me that this is a partisan issue, look at the Congress as a whole and look at the legislative proposals of each individual Representative and Senator. Tally up the bills for each which prey on the politics of fear versus which are aimed at finding solutions to broad, complex problems. I guarantee you that the GQP will come out heavily biased towards fear.
Republicans simply do not care about The People. All they want is power.
A Book Recommendation
I’m prefacing this next bit with an umbrella statement: I am not, nor have I ever been, a paid sponsor of this or any other book, show, or podcast. I have not received any remuneration of any kind for recommending this—or any other—book, show, or podcast. I am recommending the following media based solely on my own, informed personal opinion and divorced from any type or kind of influence.
If you want a very well researched, very well written book on the fight(s) against fascism in the United States, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Prequel by Rachel Maddow. And while you’re at it, download her podcast, ULTRA, too.
For those of you who don’t know who she is, Dr. Rachel Maddow is an American political scientist, commentator, and journalist. Educated at Stanford (BA, Public Policy) and Oxford (DPhil, Political Science), Maddow—who discourages the use of her own honorific salutation, Doctor—has won the Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism for ULTRA; the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for BagMan, a podcast about Vice President Spiro T. Agnew; and multiple News and Documentary Emmy Awards for her broadcast journalism and interviews. She is an accomplished news presenter and journalist, and the only journalist in national news focusing on these issues. She is also one of only a few news presenters and journalists with a doctorate in political science.
