Fred (Not His Real Name) Was a Essay

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Fred (not his real name) was a student of the same age group as the rest of us and not too much different from us, except he had some conservative political views. Several of us sat around the table discussing gun control following a well-publicized school shooting. The rest of us were fairly liberal in our views on this issue, were horrified at the shooting, and angry at the fact that people can still get guns so easily in this country. We openly expressed their opinion that no one should be able to buy a handgun or there should be very strict limitations and licensing on people that own handguns. Fred immediately spoke up regarding his feelings on the topic stating that he believed that any type of gun control is a violation of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and that everyone had the right to bear arms.

By expressing his opinion Fred immediately set himself up as "the other" with those of us in this particular group. He immediately became the target of the group's criticism regarding his views on gun ownership and was thrust into the out-group status. Interestingly, the criticism from the other members of the group extended beyond his attitude towards gun control to one of his a being rigid, backward, and downright stupid person, despite his agreeing with us on most other issues. Not a single argument he offered was given any weight at all and was immediately criticized as being "ridiculous" or "ignorant" as opposed to being evaluated for its content or for the reasoning behind his rationale. When an individual is perceived as a member of the out -- group immediately members of the in -- group begin to attribute negative characteristics to that individual.

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I found myself suddenly viewing Fred as less intelligent than myself, less virtuous than myself, and as a person who was completely without dignity or morals, despite the fact that he was just expressing his viewpoint on the gun control issue and no other political or moral issues. I was not the only one. Other members of the group began calling him names such as "stupid" and "backwards hick." The interesting thing is that before this conversation the group was interacting quite well and Fred was not perceived s an outcast, whereas once expressed his opinion and was identified as an out -- group member and he was immediately ostracized.

Another interesting thing occurred once as I perceived Fred as "the other." I found myself viewing him as a type of competitor to me. I immediately began mentally reminiscing about how I had gotten better grades than him on class assignments or on exams or how I was better looking, a better person, etc. I found myself visualizing having a public debate with him and totally humiliating him in front of our peers. When I responded to anything he said I felt as if I had "beaten" him. Again, I was not the only one. Others became very competitive with him as well and one group member of the group actually threatened to physically thrash him for his views. Upon reflection, physically threatening Fred for his view on gun control is actually pretty odd considering that we were supposed to be non-violent, whereas Fred was depicted as the violent, gun -- toting, redneck. It seemed as if we now had to beat him down in order to prove our superiority.

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