Tonight I watched Go Back to Where You Came From on SBS and for me it confirmed something I've been thinking for a long time. Firstly, that we're conditioned whether it's through human nature or through what we've grown up with to be scared of people that we believe are different from us be it because of race, gender or religion. Because things we do not understand are scary.
We find it easier to relate to someone who looks like us, who we believe thinks like us and who has had a similar life to us, because we can put ourselves in their shoes. But when you strip away from all of that when you don't look at what cultural background someone comes from or their gender or whatever preconceived notion you have of them you can find common ground.
While there were only glimpses of this coming through tonight, for example when Raye realised how much she and Maisara had in common as they had both lost children, it still reinforces the point. Because of this shared pain, Raye got past her ignorance to find compassion and empathy and to feel for Maisara and the agony she had been through.
Sarah Wilson wrote a great column in the Sunday Magazine last week which touched on a concept I've been reading about called 'contact hypothesis', which essentially states that the more interaction and exposure you have to individuals and groups the less prejudiced you will be towards them.
The thing is, this isn't just about race or religion, how many people have you met and initially thought negatively about them? But the more you've gotten to know them the more positive your view has become.
No matter what you call it, empathy, contact hypothesis or putting yourself in someone else's shoes what it comes down to is taking the time to find out who people are before you make your judgement.
There are good and bad people, but that is not defined by gender, race, or religion (or how they might have got here).
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