The Discrimination Trap

Complying with societal norms against certain forms of discrimination is a no-brainer. Anyone openly discriminating against women, ethnic minorities or the disabled is seen as behaving anti-socially. This sentiment of disapproval is subconscious. Most people were likely indoctrinated against discrimination before they had a chance to think about it for themselves.

When tracing the roots of a particular liberation movement that is no longer controversial, such as women's voting rights, it is easy to forget the magnitude of the struggle, because it requires you to imagine a reality that seems absurd. This has an unfortunate consequence. By discounting the success of past rights movements as inevitable, we lose a sense of the struggle, the resistance, the backlash, the resentment, the witch hunts, the disinformation, the rationalizations, the appeals to morality. By conflating the old reality with the new, we mistakenly assume that the rise of the downtrodden restored a natural order. This is a trap.

By extension, we make the implicit assumption that the success of causes that are yet to be won today would appear inevitable. But the truth is the exact opposite.

Ask yourself this. What do you think is the next group of people to escape persecution 50 years from now? Not a group that is already in a visible struggle, but one which we have yet to acknowledge as worthy of a struggle. Where do you sense a systematic and unquestioned injustice?

One thing is for sure. If you can't think of one, you've already fallen into the trap.