Intolerance for differences

I never seem to forget the memory of when I was a child in art class, the teacher was telling us to always make a border around our drawings, and I remember thinking why did we have to draw that stupid imagery frame around our art because it certainly didn’t look good. Salwan, who was a classmate of mine, thought the border looked ugly, so he handled his drawing without one. The teacher didn’t like that and she proceeded to hit him twice with a ruler, then she started yelling and grabbed a pen and began to draw a thick border around his drawing while furiously shaking the ruler around. She compared his drawing to another student who followed the rules and got a full mark and told him to do the exact same thing if he wanted to pass. Salwan came back laughing and said that it wasn’t a big deal but he never forgot to draw a border outside of his drawings again.

As I searched for the meaning of Intolerance it was defined as the unwillingness to accept others views, beliefs, or any behavior that differs from one’s own. Is Intolerance very prevalent in our community? and are we subconsciously raised on hating everything that is different?

When I think about Salwan today, I see that we are forced to fit in that border, restrained by these imaginary rules and boundaries set by our society. Innovating ways of thinking are what began all brilliant inventions and ideas, yet we were never taught that we can bring anything new. All we have to do is simply follow what others did before us. If you figure out a new way to solve a math equation that isn’t the way the teacher taught, they will mark it as wrong as someone who didn’t solve the equation at all. Instead of being praised for bringing something new to the table, your ideas are belittled by the authority figures you are supposed to look up to and even by your acquaintances who were also rejected previously. Anything that is considered unique or special is easily brushed off or stepped on and the idea of individuality is non-existing. We are desperately trying to fit in and we are taught not to do things differently, look different or stand out in any way, but I believe we can unlearn all of this.

Intolerance is inherently driven by fear. When a person lacks experience and exposure to anything new or different from what they are familiar with, they are likely to be uncomfortable and have a hostile reaction towards it because it challenges their perception of the world. And that reality feels threatening to their original views.

This narrow way of thinking is what makes those people very judgmental, not only of ideas and beliefs but also of people who look different. Ahmed was one of my best friends from elementary school to high school. He was an extremely smart person and incredibly polite, I really did look up to him. Ahmed is from Sudan so he has a dark skin complexion and he is different looking from most in Iraq, because of that he was subjected to constant racist remarks. People would make fun of his dark skin and how curly his hair was, without having a slight hint of empathy for how it could have made him feel. Even with all of that, I haven’t seen Ahmed showing that he’s bothered by it, not even once. I think he always knew that if he showed any reasonable emotional response that people would just use it against him. I am still baffled at how he managed to stay calm and not react.

Honestly, it is frustrating that people have to deal with that just for being born different. People have lost their lives just for saying an opinion that someone disagreed with or just for looking different and dressing in a way that society disapproved of. We live in a homogenous culture. Anything that stands out and is outside of that border is deemed harmful and unnatural.

As I got older and gained more experiences, I began to unlearn many previous ideas I've held towards people before, now I can recognize intolerance and how it affects others around me. I am more open to new ideas and to others' points of view. I learned to respect others' perspectives instead of thinking I am always right and to accept that not everyone thinks like me and that we all are entitled to our own beliefs as long as they don't harm others. 

From what I’ve been experiencing, we are a lot more considerate and empathetic than all of the previous generations. We have now connected more than ever thanks to the internet which served as a tool and gave us a space to express ourselves, understand others' points of view, and be exposed to different ideas and cultures. I think our generation is the first to truly reject intolerance and value authenticity. There is certainly a lot of progress left to be made but so far it’s very promising because we began to unlearn tolerance for intolerance and started to view others as themselves and not who we want them to be. If we continue on this trajectory eventually all the intolerance will die out with all the other harmful decaying beliefs.

Written in English by : Zaher Luay

Translated to Arabic by : Tarneem Maitham 

Translated to Kurdish by : Sanaria Tahsin 

Poster design by: Zainab Barazan