“Everyone has the right to be a bigot”

The above is probably the most-repeated quote from the debate over proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act. This isn’t surprising; it tries to appeal to the left with that allusion to the good ol’ Rights of Man, while in reality resonating with the same sort of privilege, ignorance and downright…well, bigotry…that seems to be plaguing Australian politics and media of late.

I was somewhat confounded by my parter’s admission yesterday that George Brandis “sort of had a point.” My immediate reaction was to scream “white male privilege” jokingly; but upon reflection, I forced myself to actually break down what exactly this point was.

“Everyone has the right to be a bigot.”

It’s a fairly innocuous-seeming statement, really; it’s got widespread appeal with the reference to ‘everyone’ and touches on the fact that, here in Australia, we don’t actually have a constitutional right to freedom of speech.

However, the problematic nature of this statement, and by consequence the amendements to it, comes into play rather abruptly with its conclusion.

I know that Wikipedia is hardly a satisfactory academic source, yet as this is a blog post I pray I’ll be forgiven in paraphrasing its definition of bigotry. Bigotry is the state of mind of a bigot, and refers to the view or treatment of others with fear, hatred and/or distrust based upon prejudice (which is in turn often founded upon ignorance). This prejudice may be inspired by another’s race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual and/or gender orientation, physical health, mental health, religion, socioeconomic status/class, and/or occupation.

So, to unpack Brandis’ declaration: everyone has the right to discriminate, whether in thought or action, against another, based upon ignorant presuppositions relating to that person’s lifestyle and/or birth situation.

I’ve heard a number of public figures and read far too many articles on the need to defend the rights of men, of people of European ethnic origin, of heterosexuals and those who are comfortable with the sexuality into which they were born. The term “politically correct” has become a curse phrase, a target of derision.

Perhaps, then, this act to defend the rights of the ignorant and the priviliged shall set their minds at rest.