Sunday, May 16, 2021

REDHEADS AT RISK FOR DISCRIMINATION ?

All the senseless deadly discriminatory violence that is occurring across our country has reminded me of historical accounts revealing the many different groups singled out for rejection at one time or another.   

Discriminatory stories prevail about the Native American Indians, Chinese, Irish, Italians, Hawaiians, Japanese, Negroes/African-Americans/Blacks, Puerto Ricans, Mexican, various religious groups, and many others.   Discrimination occurs from some on the basis of how others speech sounds, or other differences considered to be outside the so-called prevailing range of what they consider "normal", or acceptable, though we're all human beings.

Could it ever happen here?  For example, could discrimination occur based on even hair color?  Could redheads ever be discriminated against as a group?  Surely not!

But ... given so many of our fellow country-persons continuing to believe our former President's lies, his new ones, including conspiracy theories, the most despicable discriminatory words and behaviors with individuals being physically attacked have been more openly expressed.  There are those who believe that it's okay to treat some people as "less than," because they are different  from them in some respect -- by skin color, other physical body differences.

Perhaps redheads and some other groups, including religious, political, social, to which some of us belong shouldn't be so confident we'll never be discriminated against.  As for redheads, it's not as though those with red hair have never experienced discrimination before.  

A recent prime example of discrimination is a woman in India with natural red hair I recently discovered when researching whether or not there were no redheads in India as a Google search statement reported.  I thought, considering India was under the rule of Great Britain for so many years with many English persons and some other nationalities living there that possibly there might have been some genes mixing.

During my process of verifying the facts, I found this story written in 2017 with photos of a lovely young woman and her parents where you can see this, apparently, rare redhead in India.  She was thought to be diseased, her parents shunned because she looked different.  Perhaps there are other redheads in India hidden away for self-protection who simply have not been discovered.

Redheads have been revered by some and reviled by others through the ages.  Given the current obsession and susceptibility some people have for believing conspiracy theories perhaps we redheads should be concerned we could be placed on the list in the future to join those being discriminated against in our own U.S. country. 

For what, could others discriminate against you?   Those who discriminate against others should be aware that all groups of people are at risk of being discriminated against if some others decide, for whatever their reasons, to single them out for rejection because of their looks, beliefs, behaviors, or simply for political reasons as happens in some countries.

We see journalists as one group that are systematically under discriminatory attack by some nations leaders trying to exert excessive message control -- as did our previous President in his discriminatory press treatment.  Think also of Saudi Arabia's Jamal Khashoggi's assassination.  Other leaders stifle similar dissidents by imprisoning them as in China, Russia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Turkey, to name a few current ones, by censoring their nation's press.

Some physical appearance differences occur that are unnatural.   I had occasion to be in Quito, Ecuador in the 1950's for a visit with family.  All of us had natural red hair and drew much attention with many stares, especially from native Indians we happened to encounter when we walked about the downtown area.

The surrounding region was inhabited by Indigenous Tsachila (means "true people") also known as Colorados which means "the red-colored ones" whose men traditionally dyed their hair red with sap from the achiote tree as in this Science Source link to a photo of a boy and one also on that site of an adult man.  So, some cultures have found red hair, even if artificially colored, to not only be desirable but to signify honored exceptionality.  

Redheads reportedly are thought by some amid current senseless conspiracy theories to be the result of aliens breeding with humans, citing supporting evidence involving red-headed kings and queens as farfetched as this may seem to most of us.

Then, there is also the belief some have had that redheads become vampires when we die.  Long ago ashes of redheaded males burned alive are reported to have been used to fertilize fields.  Redheads were believed to have no souls.  All this and more with photos appear in brief accounts of 11 historical myths about redheads by clicking on this link.

Redheaded women were thought to be witches, have volatile tempers.  A recent blurb featured by Wisewebwoman on her blog:  "The Other Side of Sixty" gave me pause, seeming apropos here:  

"Who knows why we were taught to fear the witches, And not those who burned them alive?"

On the other hand, redheads have been said to bring good luck.  When all is said and done, I don't think we have any special powers simply because of the color of our hair.  

Red hair (or ginger hair) is present in people all over the world though we're considered to be only less than 1-2% of the population.  Scotland and Ireland have the most frequency of redheads. 

A number of years ago redheads were reported to be becoming extinct but this study was subsequently refuted when Proctor and Gamble was disclosed to have sponsored the research in relation to selling their hair dying products as noted in a Smithsonian article, "Requiem for the Redhead" available with a direct search using this title.

A Geneticist reports redheaded people and even those with blue eyes will decrease significantly in number to become more rare, but will not completely cease to exist though there may be some disagreement among geneticists on that matter.

Whatever our future holds I hope discriminatory words and actions cease.  How everyone talks everyday with loved ones, friends, and others -- beginning in the home with children, our grandchildren, nieces and nephews, strongly contributes to eliminating discrimination.  Communication demands civility, courtesy and respect to all -- those we know and those we don't.  There is no place for physical assaults.

Language, words and actions matter!  


26 comments:

  1. I think everyone has experienced discrimination for various reasons including lack of money or physical features that aren't like the majority population. Animals do it too if you ever observe a herd. When it happens to us because we have the wrong skin color or are fat or old, we have to ignore it unless it involved property of some sort and then maybe sue lol. Physical beauty can go two ways-- extra attention or avoidance. Learn early to value yourself and understand animals (and we are animals) just do it and being on the inside is not always a blessing :) I should add that when our granddaughter was in grade school, she tried to be nice to a boy who clearly had mental issues and many shunned. Her reward-- he pulled her pants down on the playground. He saw kindness as evidently meaning something she did not. Know what the school did-- nothing. Hopefully somewhere down the line someone saw this as not okay and tried to get him help before worse transpired.

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    1. Sorry your granddaughter had that experience. I, too, hope someone addressed his behavior with the boy and his family, perhaps privately.

      I would like to think people will make an effort to thwart discrimination as more speak out against unacceptable actions and words. Certainly violent attacks on individuals in any group must end immediately. Setting the tone in daily language is ongoing into the future to influence attitudes in our culture and others.

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  2. I think our former president gave licence to a large portion of the public to act aggressively towards those who think, look or act different. Don't know how we can stop this except by condemning those people openly. We each have a job to do.

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    1. It’s up to each individual, as you say..

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  3. I have been so worried for my children and grandchildren on the mainland after hearing about the attacks on Asians. And yes, we all know that Trump encouraged this sort of prejudice and hatred. There is that latent inclination in some people which were then given license to emerge. It's scary.

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  4. It's surprising to learn about the prejudice against redheads though. Good grief!

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    1. The physical attacks on Asians here in Calif. and other states is most alarming — it’s truly anti-humanity. An attack such as is being reported is an attack on all of us and could easily spread to other groups in time, including the attackers for reasons other than their crimes.

      I don't live on a daily basis with the anxiety, even fear, for myself and loved ones some groups like the Asians experience presently. I hope Asians are freed of this concern soon. I, too, was surprised to read about the young red-headed woman in Inda and the shunning of her parents in this day and age. Really bizarre is the belief of some that redheads are the result of aliens impregnating humans, somehow associated with some redheads being kings and queens.

      I guess we all need to be aware that all kinds of crazy ideas can be put out there, maybe even as a joke, and apparently some people will believe them; some may even act against others based on such falsehoods.

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  5. I've never understood why there's prejudice against redheads. None of the weird theories and beliefs make any sense. Personally I love red hair, I find it rather beautiful.

    It seems to me that all discrimination starts with generalisation - people saying that all black people are this, or all women are that, or all Chinese are so-and-so. People forget we're all individuals with very different beliefs and behaviour and they smear a whole group or nation on the basis of these bogus generalisations.

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    1. No doubt generalizations are a factor in discrimination.

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  6. It's so true that any one group can be singled out, or has been singled out, at one time or another. It's human nature, sadly, and has been shown in the history of not just our country but of the world.

    Right after September 11, I had to take two flights. Because it was early fall, I had a deep suntan, and I am naturally olive-complected with dark hair and dark eyes. On both occasions, I was pulled out of line and wanded separately. This had never happened before to me, and I had flown many times. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but perhaps it was not.

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    1. Your experience does make one wonder what that was about.

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    1. Thank you. Your visit here most welcome.

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  8. Dear Joared, remember that adage that so many of us heard and maybe said in the middle years of the 20th century? "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me." I can remember accepting that as wisdom and then learning, through experience, that words can wound and that the scar tissue will throb for years to come--maybe for the rest of our life. Words have so much power, and when wielded by those who fear differences or who want to hurt others before being hurt themselves, can change a human with a sunny personality to someone who mistrusts others and cowers in inner fear. Standing up to the dagger of hurtful, prejudiced words takes great courage. We need that courage now as the past president continues to appeal to the darkest aspects of the psyche of many people. Peace.

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    1. I, too, recall that saying which applies only up to a point if one is able to determine the truth of what is said and can ignore unacceptable untrue words. Unfortunately, many believe those same false vicious words making them dangerous.

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    2. Yes. You have absolutely pinpointed the attitude we need to have about that adage. There's a wisdom within you, Joared, that I suspect is hard won but it surely helps all the rest of us. Peace.

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  9. Imagine, the stats that tell us how many republicans still believe Trump's lives.

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    1. What really defies common sense are the people who know our ex-President’s lies are false but continue to spread them to others or don’t call him out for saying them. I am no longer able to trust any such individuals supporting him and would think others might feel the sane. Perhaps some among his constituents do and will exercise intelligent judgement to no longer vote to keep them in office.

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  10. I am sorry not to have commented earlier as, I thought that I had covered the Indian Redhead situation in my mail to you. Besides that little bit about India, having been at the receiving end of discrimination in many places all over the world, I can assure you that it exists everywhere in some form or the other and the colour of one's hair is but one pointer for discrimination. While the red coloured hair may disappear, discrimination of some sort or the other will never go away.

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    1. No need to apologize. I just thought you might be interested in knowing there are redheaded Indians after your comment on my previous blog post. I was surprised when Google also said the same as you, and then I suddenly found the story of the young redheaded woman and her parents with photos that I shared here. ;-). My only point being redheads do seem to be everywhere in the world’s many peoples.

      As for discrimination, my perspective is that i think we’re challenged and obligated in the name of humanity to actively minimize such, as best we can, beginning with how we talk and interact with others in our daily lives just as we strive to be the best person we each can be. Perfection likely escapes us all.

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  11. There is no logic to prejudice, of course, nor it seems is there any boundary that cannot be crossed. As for the state of the Republican party and its fealty to Donald Trump, the dissemination of lies and wild conspiracy theories, and the staggering fact that 74 millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump even after his four destructive years in office, it causes those of us who witness it from afar, to seriously examine the possibility that we are watching the precipitous decline of a nation bent on self-destruction. There is a serious credibility gap when a country that declares itself to be a great democracy, systematically goes about the business of preventing many of its citizens from voting, and over and over again seeks to overturn the results of a free and fair election.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your perspective since I’m always interested in hearing the views of those in other nations. Unfortunately, what you say is true, I think, and has alarmed me ever since 2016. The majority of our voting citizens have attempted to save our democratic republic as evidenced in our “most secure election” in 2020. The challenges preserving our democracy we face continue and will require our ever present diligent efforts to defend our constitution and freedoms.

      Actually, I’ve been concerned about our democratic republic for a number of years prior to 2016 as i saw the disintegration of the political party that ultimately took control of our government in 2016 despite receiving only a minority of the popular vote. Voter suppression as they perpetrate now is a real danger to our democracy.
      I hope this can be prevented, or at least minimized then eliminated.

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  12. You mentioned blue eyes. I have blue eyes. Maybe I'm next -- if being old doesn't get me first.

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  13. Time will tell, but doubt I’ll be around long enough to see if blue eyes disappear in future generations.

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    1. Comments advertising or promoting are not permitted per blog policy.

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