Ah, bigotry, the actions of a bigot. Hating someone because their skin is darker than a paper bag or lighter than a snowflake or that their voice is higher or lower than most peoples' or because they pronounce things differently or don't speak the same language. Hating someone just because they're from somewhere else and have slightly different genetics or views or hobbies. sigh

A common misconception is that bigotry is the use of specific words like faggot or nigger, but in reality it is any word that is used to demeen a group of people. The most common bigotry that I see tody is that agains homosexuals where the word "gay" is used as a synonym for stupid. "That book is stupid," has been replaced with, "That book is gay." There is no better way to show your ignorance.

 

 

It is said of those who do not love

the god we fear,

it is a noun

that means intolerance.

 

It is said of hard-shelled things,

that scatter in the light.

 

Ian and Elsie McPherson owned a bakery,

they were of a generation;

he did the baking,

she decorated the cakes.

 

McPherson’s Bakery made a lemon pie

that crackled in your mouth.

People came from miles to buy that pie.

 

I worked for the McPhersons

when I was in my twenties.

Elsie taught me how to pipe a rose,

and make a gum paste lily.

 

I worked across the table from her,

every day, for years.

 

The National Civil Rights Museum called McPherson’s,

to order a sheet cake once.

A full sheet cake for MLK Day.

 

She watched me pipe the roses.

Her eyes were cold like a bird’s.

 

A troublemaker, she called him.

An opportunist.

 

In my brain I heard a snapping sound,

my face was hot and flushed;

opportunity, I said,

you mean to step out on that balcony,

to be shot point blank in the head?

 

The lemon pies were made in large batches,

twenty or more at a time.

Sometimes Ian would make a small, tart-sized lemon pie,

just for me.

 

They were of a generation,

which will be said of me one day.

 

We are a noun that means intolerance.

 

Hard-shelled things,

that scatter in the light.

Big"ot*ry (?), n. [Cf. F. bigoterie.]

1.

The state of mind of a bigot; obstinate and unreasoning attachment of one's own belief and opinions, with narrow-minded intolerance of beliefs opposed to them.

2.

The practice or tenets of a bigot.

 

© Webster 1913.

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