Fear is something that we are born with, and it is something that we’ll always have; a natural instinct. Of course, there are times where we will wish for it to go away, sometimes it can be irrational, but really, we wouldn’t be able to live without it. Ever since the dawn of humanity, it’s been here. It has told us to stay away from danger and told us when to run. Fear may have led us here; it may have made us who we are, but there will be a time where we will lose control, and where all sense is lost to fear. This is where we fall.
Hate crimes in Canada
A hate crime is a crime committed against a group or an individual for their race, their gender, their ethnic background, their religion, or their sexuality. Over the last decade, hate crimes in Canada have been on the rise with its highest ever in 2017, 2018 following not far behind. According to Statistics Canada, as of the year 2018, there were 1798 cases of hate-crimes accounted for. Not only that, but it is also estimated that ⅔ of hate-crimes aren’t reported, a fraction that can be as high as 6/7. Victims who did not report give three main reasons for not doing so; it not being worth the time, thinking that police will not consider it important enough, or believing that the offender will not receive adequate punishment, if at all. Furthermore, barely more than half of hate-crimes were non-violent at 57%. Hate-crimes against Catholic, Jewish, Black, and Muslim people were more likely to be non-violent, with hate-crimes against sexual orientation, South Asian, Arab and West Asian, East, and Southeast Asian people more likely to be violent. Indigenous and Muslim populations are more likely to have female victims compared to other groups.
The Relationship Between Fear and Hatred.
I would say there are three types of fear that manifest into hatred; the fear of not knowing, the fear of others, and the fear of oneself.
As more and more issues and events, like that of the pandemic, come into play, we know less and less. It’s hard to keep track of everything, let alone know of all that is out there. With the diversity of culture, background, and history, can we be sure if anything is good or bad? The answer is no, and will always be no.
The Unknown and Global Factors
What we are often guilty of doing is the grouping of individuals into a given category; whether it’s gender, race, family, or anything else. Instead of giving everybody the chance to represent themselves, we judge them by the group they are in. If one thing happens to it, anybody who falls under the category is too, under scrutiny. It’s why there are still those who think Muslims are terrorists. Terrorists, when Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, only after Christianity. In 2010 alone, there were around 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. I must say, we’re not having nearly enough terrorist attacks from them if they really are just that.
It’s probably no coincidence that following the 2016 US presidential elections and with President Trump in office that hate-crimes rose dramatically. By using racial commentaries and being anti-immigrant, no matter how absurd the person is, they are still able to plant that seed of doubt into our minds. Sure, we don’t hang onto every word people say, but it brings up questions we don’t really want to think about. The problem with discrimination isn’t that we’re promoting it; it’s that we’re avoiding it. If we don’t learn, learn about different cultures and backgrounds, then we don’t know what we’re standing for. Children, people, we learn from what others say. Look at it this way. By being brought up with a practically taboo topic and hearing discrimination from positions of power, what are you to think? That the discrimination is wrong and should be stopped immediately, or are you going to wonder why it was taboo in the first place and that perhaps, you misunderstood the taboo itself. Perhaps we really are the people who need protection.
We may know that it’s not a group or a certain type of people that do more harm than good, but we avoid thinking about it anyway because if there’s no order, then how can we pinpoint our blame? This is the fear of the unknown. We’ll never know when or why something is about to happen or who or what a person can do. All we have is the past, and to the past, we sometimes turn wrongly.
The Others and The Self
We all have our doubts, aspirations we may never get to. Some of us will accept it, others may blame innocent people to hide their own failure. It’s a game of hiding and seeks. Hide your weaknesses and prey on those who don’t or who are vulnerable. This again is discrimination and fear. It can be the fear that others are better or that we fear we will be blamed so we must do so first. What’s so dangerous about it is that there are people who are willing to go to such limits to maintain a good appearance.
What to Take from This
One of the most prevalent and most atrocious of hate-crimes was that of the Holocaust in World War 2. With high poverty, famine, and a collapsed economy, it was the perfect fuel for fear and hate to rise. Even anti-semitism was not unheard of before, where Jewish were also blamed for causing the infamous Black Death. It was an easy scapegoat to use and blame for the misery German citizens suffered after the first World War. Both increasing external fears by spreading disinformation, and quelling internal ones of people, themselves, being the ones not able to bounce back from World War 1.
Perhaps we didn’t condemn thousands to death, own slaves, bully a student, or use racial slurs, but let’s be honest, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in your head either. Even who we claim as the greatest in history or society wasn’t without their flaws or wrongs they didn’t right. The only thing that sets us apart from those who did commit acts of horror is that while they really did them, we only thought them. As inscribed on an Egyptian tomb, “Your deeds are your monuments.” We’re only remembered for our actions and what we did. No one can hear your thoughts, and no one can read them. Go ahead, think what you will, but when the time comes for you to act, reflect on it. Not everything has consequences, but some, they can be very grave.
There is no running away from fear, there’s no getting rid of it. We may want to do brash things because we’re afraid, but remember that it’s not just you. Everyone has fears, even if you can’t see them. There’s no shame in being afraid, but there’s shame in hurting others for your own benefit.
Check out our article Giving Yourself a Lesson on Racism to learn more about similar topics.
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