PYRAMID OF HATE - Ceji

Pyramid of hate

The Pyramid of Hate visually demonstrates the possible rapid progression from biased thoughts to hate-driven violence, offering a sobering portrayal of the dangerous consequences of unchecked hatred. It aims to help individuals identify various forms of hatred, understand the stages of its escalation, and emphasize the critical importance of intervention in the face of hate. This endeavor stems from the understanding that bias-motivated violence and genocide are merely the visible outcomes of a deeper issue. Beneath the surface lie ingrained attitudes, behaviors, actions, and inactions that, if left unaddressed, create an environment conducive to further escalation. Click below to explore the Pyramid of Hate:

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pyramid

of hate

Genocide

Bias-Motivated Violence

Systemic Discrimination

Prejudicial Acts

Biased Attitudes

Bias-Motivated Violence

• Threats;
• Desecration;
• Vandalism;
• Arson;
• Harassment;
• Assault;
• Rape;
• Murder;
• Terrorism.

Bias, prejudice, intergroup tensions and discrimination contribute to an environment which can be experienced as hostile, and sometimes this hostility can manifest itself violently. Violent acts are criminal and are more commonly called “hate crimes.”

Genocide

• With intent to destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group -
• Killing;
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm;
• Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction;
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births;
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The top level of the pyramid is Genocide. The United Nations, in 1948, provided a definition of genocide as comprising any of the subsequent acts, carried out with the purpose of annihilating, either entirely or partially, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious collective, and also including:

Systemic Discrimination

• Criminal justice disparities;
• Inequitable school resource distribution;
• Housing segregation;
• Inequitable employment opportunities;
• Wage disparities;
• Voter restrictions and suppression;
• Unequal media representation.

After the establishment of biased perspectives and actions, a progression towards organized and systematic DISCRIMINATION can ensue.

Biased Attitudes

The foundation of the pyramid highlights the importance of mental associations or biased attitudes, conscious and unconscious, which are shaped by peoples’ experiences of the world around them. Biases are a necessary function of human brains, but they can become harmful when they prevent us from understanding another person’s point of view or potential. Sometimes they manifest as “blind spots”, like a visual blind spot when driving, we are not always aware that a bias even exists at all. People from stigmatized or marginalised groups are particularly vulnerable to the effects of negative bias.

• Blind Spots;
• Fear of Difference;
• Stereotyping;
• Tendency to gravitate towards or away from certain types of people;
• Limiting oneself to information that confirms existing beliefs;
• Lack of awareness of one’s own privileges.

Systemic Discrimination

• Criminal justice disparities;
• Inequitable school resource distribution; Housing segregation;
• Inequitable employment opportunities; Wage disparities;
• Voter restrictions and suppression;
• Unequal media representation;
• Oppressive cultural paradigms;
• Biased educational content and pedagogy;
• Silencing of human rights defenders.

The cumulative effect of biased attitudes, prejudicial acts and personal experiences of discrimination contribute to institutionalized and cultural reproductions of historical patterns of oppression. The widespread persistence of inequalities and social polarization are indicative of the systemic nature of discrimination. Structural, direct and indirect discrimination are other terms which could be used at this level of the pyramid while also taking into consideration the cultural or ideological dimensions which influence what is or is not known by the wider society.

Prejudicial Acts

• Microaggressions;
• Social avoidance and/or exclusion;
• Name-calling;
• Ridicule;
• Bullying;
• Dehumanization;
• Discrimination.

Biased attitudes inform our emotional reactions and interpretations of situations or people. If left unmitigated, they can become pre-judgements that have an impact on our decisions about how we relate to people or situations. Interpersonal interactions, inter/intra-group dynamics and discriminatory decisions are just some of the potential results of prejudiced acts.