Why do people hate people? – Daisy, age 9, Lake Oswego, Oregon
Have you ever said “I hate you” to someone? How about using the “H-word” in casual conversation, like “I hate broccoli”? How do you actually feel once you say you hate something or someone?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes the word “hate” as “intense hostility and resentment, usually resulting from fear, anger, or a sense of hurt.” Worldwide, Researcher like us study hate from disciplines similar to education, history, law, leadership, psychology, sociology and plenty of others.
If you've had a daunting experience with thunderstorms, you may say that you simply hate thunderstorms. Maybe you were very offended about something that happened in a certain place and now you say you hate going there. Maybe someone said something hurtful to you, so that you say you hate that person.
Understanding hate as an emotional response lets you recognize your feelings toward something or someone and be interested by where those feelings come from. This awareness gives you time to assemble more information and picture the opposite person's perspective.
So what’s hate and why do people hate? There are many answers to those questions.
What isn't hate?
Hate, based on the US Department of Justice“does not mean anger, rage, or general dislike.”
Sometimes people think that they need to feel or imagine a certain way about one other person or group of individuals due to what they hear or see around them. For example, people might say that they hate one other person or group of individuals when what they really mean is that they disagree with them, don't understand them, or don't like their behavior or the things they imagine in.
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It's easy in charge others for stuff you don't imagine in or experiences you don't like. Think about times once you might hear someone at college say that they hate a classmate or a teacher. Could it’s that they were offended, hurt, or confused about something, but used the word hate to elucidate or label how they felt?
Not understanding another person could make you nervous and even anxious. Instead of being interested by one another's unique experiences, people may judge others as different – they might have a special skin color, practice a special religion, come from a special country, be older or younger, or use a wheelchair.
When people consider other people as less necessary or less human than themselves, that could be a type of hate.
What hate is
The US Department of Justice defines hate as “bias against people or groups with certain, legally defined characteristics.” These characteristics may include an individual's race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and national origin.
One option to take into consideration hate is as a pyramid. At the underside of the pyramid, hate is an emotion that arises from prejudicial attitudes toward others, similar to stereotypes that certain groups of persons are animals, lazy, or silly.
Sometimes these prejudiced attitudes and feelings form the idea for people to act out their prejudices, for instance through bullying, exclusion or insults. For example, many Asians within the US experienced one Increase in hate incidents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. When communities accept prejudice as okay, some people may move up the pyramid considering that it’s also okay to discriminate, or imagine that certain groups of individuals are usually not welcome in certain neighborhoods or in certain workplaces due to their personality are.
At the highest of the pyramid, some people commit violence or hate crimes because they imagine their very own way of being is best than that of others. They may threaten or physically harm others or destroy property. At the highest of the pyramid is genocide, the intent to destroy a particular group – like what Jews experienced in World War II, or what Rohingya are experiencing today in Myanmar, near China.
Hatred at the center and better levels of the pyramid happens because no one did anything to discourage the biased feelings, attitudes and actions on the lower levels of the pyramid.
Take motion against hate
Not only can individuals hate, there are also hate groups just like the Ku Klux Klan that attack individuals who are usually not white, heterosexual, or Christian. Sometimes hate was incorporated into law, similar to within the Indian Removal Act or the Jim Crow laws that persecuted Native Americans and black Americans. If we remain silent after we encounter hate, that hate can grow and cause greater harm.
There are some ways you may help stop hate in your on a regular basis life.
Pay attention to what’s being said around you. If the people you spend loads of time with say hateful things about other groups, consider speaking out or changing who you meet with and where. Be an upright person – Sit down with someone who’s being targeted and report should you see or hear hate incidents.
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Start noticing once you let hateful words or behavior flow into your thoughts and actions. Learn what hate looks and feels like in yourself and in others, including what you see online.
Be open to meeting others who’ve different experiences than you and provides them the possibility to let you know who they’re. Be brave and face your fears. Be curious and friendly.
You are usually not the just one standing as much as the hate. Many Human rights groups And Government initiatives also do the work of eradicating hate. We all have a “Responsiveness“or the ability to respond. As a civil rights activist the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do this.”
You may find that it is less complicated to like other people than to hate them. Others will see the way you behave and follow your example.
image credit : theconversation.com