Is hate the new normal?
I strongly feel polarising rhetoric from leaders such as US President Donald Trump are responsible for a rise in hate crimes. With the death toll rising, Trump has blamed the violence on Muslim extremists and foreign powers. Every Trump supporter has heard his rhetoric about people of colour and women and decided that it is acceptable on some level. So, all of them start being racist and sexist at one point of time. Hillary Clinton might have been unwise to say half of Trump’s supporters are racists and other “deplorables”. But she wasn’t wrong. There’s a mistaken belief that hate is the new normal and eventually we will just have to get used to it. The gun rights just make things worse. The thing is, we don’t really know why people voted for Trump. Essentially, for someone to get violent, they have to justify to themselves why someone deserves punishment, have no alternative that can move them towards their desired goal, be willing to tolerate the believed consequences that will come with using violence and have the ability to deliver such violence.
From Ms Megna Rajagopal
Dubai
Let’s not forget the past
Donald Trump is the President of the US. He has the right to make the decisions, which will be good for his country. All these years, there was a conspiracy theory that the US is the reason for all wars. Then my question is, why do people now want to go to a nation that everyone believes is the reason for all wars? Ban America then! Or else, let them live with their democracy and leave them alone. During the time of the last US president, we saw the most bloodshed ever. Let’s not forget that. Let’s all hope for good. May the Almighty bless this world and the people.
From Mr Kenny G.
UAE
Misdirected anger
Donald Trump’s ‘hate speech’ gives racists and xenophobes permission to dump their misdirected anger about their own lives and failures on others.
From Ms S. Dufy
UAE
Focusing on wrong things
Instead of spreading peace, happiness, new ideologies and improving the economy, leaders like Donald Trump seem to be focusing on all the wrong things. It is not good.
From Ms Hajera Parveen
Dubai
The root cause
I don’t think politics and the leaders are responsible. Financial problems are the basic reason for hate crimes. The US seems to be ignoring the cause of their financial problems and they feel that immigrants are the reason, but the actual reason is global wars that they play a role in.
From Mr Kaleem Bukhari
UAE
Accepting facts
Racism will not die, it’ll only multiply. That’s the fact that we need to accept. Because the more we talk about it, the farther it’ll spread. And media plays a big role in the recent hate crimes, too.
From Mr Lordson M. Destura
Abu Dhabi
Fake news
Social media is responsible, nothing else. Fake news and fake reports from unknown and unreliable sources spread through social media like forest fire and the sad thing is that most people believe them. Additionally, it seems like crimes committed by one’s own community are hidden or not spoken about, but the others are highlighted by media.
From Ms Shabanas Sharaf Al Deen
Kerala, India
Paying a price
I would say increased internet access led to a rise in racial hate crimes. Greater internet access may have enhanced the efficiency with which extremists could spread hate ideology and spur like-minded individuals to carry out lone-wolf attacks. Technology has its advantages, but all good things come with some side effects, too.
From Mr Abdul Rahim
UAE
We are all equal
People are afraid of embracing those different from them and instead of accepting and understanding those differences, they end up concentrating their energy on committing atrocities against those minorities. The inability to accept others for who they are or how they look is what’s the problem. Until the so-called ‘civilised’ humans realise that no race is above the other, their ignorance will exceed their wisdom and understanding! After all in the eyes of God we are all equal and worldly power never lasts, it just blinds you.
From Ms Cassandra Jr Sandra
UAE
Corruption rules
When politicians with no knowledge or experience run a country based on his or her personal misunderstandings and fear and influencers encourage them by saying that it is alright to openly hate others based for their religion or colour, gives rise to hate crimes. Corrupt politicians feed on people’s fear and money.
From Ms Ruhiah Ans
US
No time for hate
Millions die every year, most of them peacefully. People with no direction and too much time on their hands use modern media to voice their opinions about everything. Vulnerable minds align themselves with one or the other and then feel justified with their twisted thoughts, since they are not alone. This leads to hate, where hate would not have existed before. Life is too short to be hateful towards another being. In a hundred years from now, people from this generation would have all died, replaced by our descendants. We should try to leave them some hope and lessons in how to be nice.
From Mr Kevin Henson
France
Prejudice
In my opinion, the lack of knowledge about other cultures and misconceptions about something is the main problem. Many people have a lack of awareness about the culture and people of other countries and also there is the mentality that they are superior than others and prejudice plays in. It is also dependent upon the maturity level of a person.
From Mr Farman Khan
Kohat, Pakistan
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