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The podcast episode discusses discrimination and prejudice towards minorities. Mr. Rich, a security guard, believes that discrimination exists based on appearance, religion, and beliefs. He thinks it's important to not be a part of discrimination but acknowledges that it will always be present. Mr. Van shares personal experiences of discrimination and believes that people should learn to live with diversity. Mr. DeJong also believes that bigotry is part of human nature and cannot be abolished. He suggests understanding and dealing with it instead. The interviews touch on discrimination against Muslims after 9/11 and the need to educate ourselves and create an inclusive society. Hello all and welcome to our podcast, The Ocean Experience. Today we are discussing discrimination and prejudice specifically directed towards minorities. Today we will be interviewing Mr. Rich, our security guard, Mr. Van, and Mr. DeJong with our interviewees John and Van. We are attempting to understand what the average adult thinks about discrimination and prejudice in order to further understand the struggles that protagonist Sharon in the novel A Very Large Expensive Sea experiences. Alright, let's do this. So who am I here with today? Rich Perfagne. Alright, so what do you know, do you know what discrimination is? Can you tell us a little bit about it? It's discriminating if somebody could look like you, talk like you, have the same religion, same beliefs. Okay, so what do you know about the topic of bigotry or prejudice in this world? It exists, it's existed for a long time and always will. So how do you feel about the topic? Try to do your best not to be a part of that. You don't want to be the person that's being bigoted against somebody. But you got to know it's always going to be there, so if it's coming against you, you got to learn to get around it because many of the walks of life in our country went through it. Yeah, makes sense. So have you seen an example of bigotry or discrimination? Sure, in your school I have. You know, you don't date a girl because she's too heavy. A kid gets cut from a team because he's not tall enough. Somebody gets picked on because they're a different religion and made fun of. There have to be many, many things. Years ago women couldn't vote. Jewish Americans are always picked on. African Americans are going through that. Mexicans, Latinos, everybody goes through that. Italians, my ancestors couldn't speak English. So it's always going to be there. Have you seen discrimination towards minorities like Muslims before? Oh yeah, especially after 9-11. So many people drew conclusions. They saw a Muslim, they thought Islam was a liar. They thought Al-Qaeda, they thought terrorism. So it was a natural reaction for people, especially after 9-11. So what steps do you think we can take as a society to abolish bigotry? Best thing to do, once people understand it, stop talking about it. The phrase I used to use when I was coaching, don't talk about it, be about it, just do it. Just go about your business and forget somebody's Italian, Latino, black, white, rich, poor. Forget about that and just not talk about it, try to move on. And if you see incidents of it, try to take steps to correct it. Alright, well thank you for your time. You're welcome. So who am I here with today? That's my friend. Alright, so I'm just going to answer some questions for you. So do you know what discrimination is? Yes. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Discrimination is when one person unfairly makes a judgment about another person based on their color or their gender. So what do you know about the topic of bigotry or prejudice in this world? Quite a bit, I mean I have family members who are other races and also close family members. Yeah, have they experienced that prejudice? Yes. It's systemic. So how do you feel about this topic? Pretty strongly. This is something personal to you? Yes. So have you seen examples of bigotry from existing family members in this world? Absolutely. I have the story. Have you seen discrimination towards minorities like Muslims before? Yes. Why do you think they have this thought? Ignorance and I think in some cases self hatred. Yeah, I mean I think it's part of the history of our country. I think our country is largely ignorant and I think it goes all the way back to the founding of our country. I think there's a lot we don't understand. We don't understand our history. We don't know things. I think there's a lot we need to know, to learn more about as a culture and society. And I think a lot of it has been misunderstood. Do you think non-binding has increased? Yes, but I think it does. So what do you think people should do about this? Well, I think people should get out of their comfort zone and learn that what we live on is very small. And we should learn how to live with it. Well, people should become friendly and get outside of their comfort zone. Because the world is very small. And there's just way more that we have in common with people that we really have in common. Alright, well thanks for speaking to me. Who am I here with today? Mr. Dijon, Deputy Coordinator, Strathdaven Middle School. Nice, okay. So, Mr. Dijon, do you know what discrimination is? Yes. Can you tell us a little bit about it? I'd say it's the unfair treatment of a certain group of people. Okay, so what do you know about the topic of bigotry or prejudice in this world? I mean, I know that it is rampant in all different areas. It's something that we live with as humans. I think it might even be part of the human condition. Like something that would never go away, that we're always going to battle. Yes. How do you feel about this? How do you feel about the topic? I mean, I'm comfortable talking about it, but it's an uncomfortable topic. It's something that impacts a lot of people. Have you seen examples of bigotry that you recall? Sure, sure. I'm trying to think if I can think of one. I mean, we see it all the time. We see it on the news. It's pumped into our houses all the time. But in-person bigotry, sure. I'm sure I have. Whether it's like slight offhand things, like not serving someone with respect or something like that in a restaurant. So, have you seen discrimination specifically towards minorities like Muslims before? First-hand? Sure, yeah, first-hand. First-hand, I would say maybe not necessarily specifically towards Muslims. And that's the tough thing about this topic, right? Was that bigotry? Was that not? Was that hate? Was that not? Was it something unintended or was it intended? I think that's one of the really difficult parts to consider when we're talking about this. So, do you think that there are such things as hate crimes when it comes to minorities? Sure, yeah. I mean, there are crimes that are committed specifically against people specifically for their group of people that they are in. Out of hate. Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, look. Well, that's the difficult part of it, right? Because, like, whether you... I mean, I have maybe a little bit of difficulty with, like, identifying it as hate crime. Right? But it is... I mean, there are crimes that are committed. They should be like crimes of ignorance, right? Because I think hate comes from ignorance. And so people, I mean, attack certain groups of people. And it's directly because they're in that group of people, not because they did something or something like that. Yeah. So, specifically, going back to Muslims, do you think 9-11 had a big role in these crimes and discrimination? I think... I mean, I think world events like that, like 9-11, like the world event of my lifetime, or one of the world events of my lifetime, surely have an impact on... I mean, I think we... If you look at research, after things like that happen, you are going to see an uptick in hate-driven behavior against groups like that. So, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, what do you think... What do you wish you knew about this topic when you were younger? Like, is there anything that... I don't know if I wish I would have known about it, like, this part of the topic when I was younger, but I think just to come to an understanding that things are really complex, right? Like, it's really hard to answer a question, did 9-11 have a direct impact on hate crime against Muslims? Because I think that, I mean, it's a complex problem, and I think that... I think that that becomes an excuse for personal responsibility, right? Like, oh, these people did that because, you know what I mean, look what they did. Like, no. Like, you did, you chose to, you know what I mean, commit a crime or to injure or to hurt someone, and you can't blame the fact that something else happened completely unrelated. Like, again, that's... I mean, it's... So, as a kid, like, just learning, you know what I mean, and developing an understanding, like, a wider understanding of the world and hate's place in it. Yeah. So, what steps do you think we could take as a society to abolish bigotry? So, I started off this interview saying that it's probably something that's going to be around forever. So, abolishing bigotry is probably not something that we're capable of. That's one of the... I mean, one of my perspectives that maybe I don't share with a lot of people is that humans try to control things that might not be controllable. Yeah. So, I don't know, what's an answer? Are we going to have, like, a concert for an anti-hate concert? Or are we going to have, you know, fundraising or those kinds of things? And, like, you're not... To me, it just doesn't... It's something that we live with and continue to deal with. Like, I don't have a lot of confidence in changing people who live in a, like, a sort of hate-filled world. Yeah. All right. Mr. Rich seems to know a lot about discrimination and bigotry. His experience can definitely show in his interview. He was able to give many examples of discrimination that he has seen. It was interesting to see that he thought that we could eliminate racism by not being a part of a group who discriminated against others. Rich also thinks that once we understand what bigotry and discrimination is, then we should stop talking about it and try not to group people by their race or religion. Thank you, Helen, for that analysis on Mr. Rich's interview. I will now be talking about the interview we had with Ms. McMahon. So, Ms. McMahon was talking about her gay cousin and said she could relate to this discrimination we were asking about. She was saying that discrimination was based on gender, race, equality and how one should see beyond another person's appearance. Ms. McMahon replied yes to the question that, did 9-11 affect bigotry towards Muslims? She stated that to get rid or abolish bigotry, one should get outside the social circle and familiarize themselves with different cultures. I'll now be handing it over to Van on Mr. De Jong's interview. Thank you, John, for your interview with Ms. McMahon. In my interview with Mr. De Jong, he kept repeating the statement that bigotry will never go away and that it is part of human nature. Instead of trying to abolish bigotry, we should learn how to deal with it, he says. He said it was also impossible to claim an increase of bigotry shown towards Muslims because of 9-11 that has always been around to show itself more at the time because of the hatred towards the groups like Al-Qaeda. And that is all for my interview with Mr. De Jong. On to Andrew for the conclusion. Thank you, Mr. Rich, Ms. McMahon and Mr. De Jong for all the different opinions on this topic. This shows that everyone has different thoughts and knowledge on important topics around the world. Bigotry has been around for far too long and even though we may not be able to get rid of it, we can make it fade away slowly. We cannot allow hate and discrimination to continue to be prevalent in our society and I think we must educate ourselves and others on the harm that bigotry causes and actively work towards creating a more inclusive and accepting world. I will now take this chance that I have to recommend reading the article The Consequences of Bigotry by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of bigotry on individuals and the society as a whole. Additionally, another non-profit organization that I believe in and is dedicated to fighting against bigotry is the Anti-Defamation League that works tirelessly to combat hate and discrimination. They offer education and training programs, advocacy. Thanks for listening to The Ocean Experience and we'll wash off on your device another time very, very soon.