[Book review] Exposure cures hatred, not logic

In \"180 Degrees: Stories against Hatred,\" German journalist Bastian Berbner says we need to show bigots why they are wrong instead of telling them they are wrong

Supporters of the right-wing nationalist party Alternative for Germany hold the party flag in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, on May 27, 2018. (AP/Yonhap News)

Hatred is a worldwide phenomenon. Europe has been split in two over the refugee issue. The UK has seen pitched battles over Brexit, the US over Donald Trump.

Political opposition has been escalating into hate. Hostility toward Asians has been intensifying in Europe and the US since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted.

Bastian Berbner, the German journalist and Die Zeit editor who wrote "180 Degrees," writes, "The voices of moderates, rationalists and advocates of balance have weakened, while the voices of the strident, advocates of hatred and radicals have intensified."

"Subtle differences are buried away in black-and-white choices and us-versus-them distinctions."

The solution that he suggests is more contact between those who are hostile toward one another. "When you really get to know someone, you can't hate them anymore," he says.

To prove his seemingly simplistic point, Berbner ventured out searching for people who had overcome hatred to become friends. He traveled to a Hamburg housing community, a Danish police station, a World War II battlefield, the Namibian desert and the Irish Citizens' Assembly. He meets with refugees and those who despise them, Islamic youths and police, German POWs and US veterans, neo-Nazis and left-wing punks, gay people and opponents of homosexuality.

A classic example of how contact overcomes hatred is seen in the experience of Harald and Christa Hermes, a married couple of pensioners who live on the first floor of a Hamburg row house.

Both of them used to be hostile toward refugees — until the day a Serbian refugee couple and their children took up residence on the second floor. The next day, Christa saw water dripping from the veranda and went upstairs to investigate. There she saw laundry hanging on the porch, and a bathroom with no washing machine, dryer or laundry rack.

Christa had experience washing clothes by hand when she was a child, and she knew how difficult it was. The refugee family had no plates or utensils, no blankets, no pillows — nothing.

Supporters of the right-wing nationalist party Alternative for Germany hold the party flag in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, on May 27, 2018. (AP/Yonhap News)

Harald and Christa brought them blankets, pillows, pots, frying pans and an electric cooker. They also learned that the young husband was an auto mechanic like Harald had been.

The new neighbor, who might have been a "potential swindler and ruffian," turned out to be a hardworking mechanic and a father caring for his family. "Within a few weeks, the 'gypsies' had become 'human beings,'" Berbner writes.

The social psychologist Gordon Allport recognized this truth through research and experiments in the 1950s, dubbing it the "contact hypothesis." This hypothesis — that contact between hostile parties reduces prejudice and leads to a more peaceful relationship — eventually became cemented into a theory.

But our opportunities to meet people with different ideas and backgrounds are surprisingly few. The family members we live with, the coworkers we have lunch with, the friends we occasionally meet in the evening — all of these people are very likely to have similar professions, incomes and political opinions to ours.

Recent years have seen news, music and advertisements all being tailored to our tastes based on algorithms. This is why we so often find ourselves asking the same question when the results are counted on election day: "Who are these people?"

"In such a differentiated society, distance and silence often dominate over many groups: between the rich and poor, between old and young people, between immigrants and natives. An ideal soil is formed to cultivate prejudice," Berbner writes.

To overcome this situation, the author says, we must institutionalize and deliberately encourage the kinds of "magical moments" experienced by the Hermeses.

One possibility can be seen in a citizens' assembly that took place in Ireland in 2013. The assembly is an institution for holding discussions and sharing opinions on a wide range of issues, including whether to legalize same-sex marriage.

The citizens' assembly consisted of 66 people selected to represent a wide range of ages, income levels, and places of residence.

One member selected for the assembly was Finbarr O'Brien, a mail carrier.

He was the Irish equivalent of an "angry white man": he was opposed to gay marriage. Another member of the assembly was Chris Lyons, a gay man who showed up to each meeting with his hair dyed in a different color.

During the discussion one day, Lyons said, "I don't think I'm right for this group. Mostly, I feel afraid."

O'Brien, sitting across from him, nodded his head vigorously. "I feel the same way as Chris."

At that moment, the two men's stereotypes about each other collapsed. As they kept talking, O'Brien was more and more surprised by how normal Lyons was.

O'Brien ended up voting for the constitutional amendment that legalized gay marriage. The two men's story shows the power of systematic contact.

"Governments that want to fight against hatred and to overcome social division need to take on the task of arranging meetings between enemies, opponents, and people who hold different opinions. They need to create situations that force people to humanize the other side and recognize that there are no fundamental differences between humans."

After the press picked up the story of Ireland's citizens' assembly, a movement arose in Germany to set up similar assemblies. In the summer of 2019, a group called Mehr Demokratie ("More Democracy") initiated a project for democracy by citizens' assemblies.

The newspaper Die Zeit organized an activity called "Germany Speaks" that connected readers who provided opposite answers to political questions.

Over 8,000 people took part in the activity. Many people expected their counterparts to argue or do something dramatic, but they found sympathy and agreement.

"If you want to change how people think — if, for example, you want them to give up racism, homophobia, radical Islam, or anarchism — telling them they're wrong won't help at all. What you need to do is actually show them [they're wrong]," the author stressed.

While the examples presented in the text are Eurocentric, they provide food for thought for Korean society, which has recently been grappling with similar issues.

By Ahn Seon-hee, staff reporter

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