Even under the law, there are exceptions, but I’m not sure the concept of ignorance of the law is a good metric to apply to ignorant people.

I think my viewpoint mostly stems from the idea of people largely being a product of their environment, and to what degree the average person can truly override that.

Who I am, how I percieve reality, my ability to critically think, the specific knowledge I have, the education I received; all of it was influenced by external factors I had little control over, in other words, luck.

I was born to good parents that loved me and encouraged me, that never imprinted bigoted ideas into me, and gave me the tools and resources I needed to eventually educate myself beyond what they could provide, but importantly, my upbringing fostered the right temperament and curiosity to actually want to become educated.

Were I born to some racists assholes that neglected me, taught me all the wrong values, and killed any intellectual curiosity before it could even begin (and in fact, instill suspicion for those who do have any), and the majority of the community where I lived only reinforced those values… I’m not saying it’s impossible to overcome that, many have, but that’s playing life on hard mode, and I can’t help but feel it’s wrong to truly hate those people for being what is essentially unlucky.

I do deeply lament what their ignorance has wrought, and I would encourage anyone to stand up to them regardless of how they came upon those views, but for the ones who were unlucky, I oppose them while feeling sorry for them, instead of using hate to fuel my resistance.

Though it can be hard to do so, I try to remind myself that a lot of these people simply lack the intellectual self defense or cultural opportunities to not be duped by targeted propaganda. The school system and many poor parents failed to instill critical thinking for many people. Unfortunately we all suffer for those failings, but I try to temper my anger.

The ones who had every opportunity to learn better, but actively chose to be what they are, those ones just suck straight up.