Why Tolerance Is the Most Important Skill in Society Today
I live in a community which has a big appreciation for the arts, technology, education, the environment, wellness, and philanthropy. People in the community come from various backgrounds, ethnicities, geographies, political viewpoints, religions, and social opinions. The state and our community are diverse in almost every sense of the word and that is one of the things I love about it.
For years I have served the community, built lasting relationships and tried to help others in any way I can. I mentor women and startup founders, I’m an investor, I volunteer with educational, environmental, and the arts organizations giving both my time and money for causes in our community and the betterment of society. In the past week while volunteering several things have happened that caused me to take pause.
In the past week, I have seen more bad behavior by those who are seemingly good people than I have seen in a long time. This is ranging from a huge public event focused on community, in reply to a social media post suggesting bigotry isn’t tied to a single political party, and multiple people being treated inappropriately in the workplace.
The behavior ranged from sexual overtures to anti-Semitic remarks, name calling and ultimately hate speech. I observed people who I know to be intelligent throw logic went out the window and simply spew venom. The final straw came as I reflected on what by the most egregious behavior I have seen in a very long time.
I sit on the board of an educational non-profit focused on building the grassroots tech community in Florida. We are an entirely volunteer organization and 100% of all money raised is put back into the community. We provide connections and mentorship, have educational meetups and produce two large events each year. One of those events Ignite Tampa Bay took place last week.
If you are unfamiliar with Ignite events, they are held in over 350 locations around the world. Ignite talks are a quick 5 minutes consisting of 20 slides which advance every 15 seconds.
The fast-paced geek where all speakers are from the local community was launched in 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis in Seattle, Washington making it possible for anyone to present their ideas and their stories.
Ignite Tampa Bay was well attended and speakers covered a variety of topics, ranging from Cancer to putting humans on Mars, or making mistakes to using blockchain to combat art theft. Our group has been producing this event for nine years and the audience has continued to grow. The topics are often thought-provoking and of course, that means people will have different viewpoints. While people have not always agreed we have never had an issue in the past. People debate but in a congenial manner, but this year it was different at least for one member of the audience and those who were unfortunate enough to sit near him.
At the end of the event, a group of people came up to me and pointed out someone beyond the middle of the theater. They explained this person made numerous disparaging remarks about several speakers, all of whom female. These remarks were loud enough to be heard and recorded people sitting several feet away. The attendees sent me a photo and played a recording of the remarks for me. They explained they were very uncomfortable and even a bit frightened this person might do something violent. I tried to get to the person before they exited but could not.
The speakers who provoked this individuals outrage presented topics including creating a world that thinks beautifully, people, politics, and propaganda, embracing creativity, and making our legal system more efficient. One speaker who immigrated from Bosnia as a small child spoke about overcoming obstacles and finding her way in America. She expressed great respect for our country and received tremendous applause from the audience.
The irate individual said Muslims should not be allowed in our country, that all Muslims should die, called one a communist, used multiple five letter words to describe other female speakers on stage and remarked: “What type of organization would put on an event like this a call it community?”.
I would like to issue a reply to this person in the audience at Ignite, to the close minded people on social media, to those who would leverage power and position over another person whether male or female and to anyone like them. Hate and bigotry are not welcome here!
The type of organization and people who put on this event, and those who make social media posts about fairness, expect equal treatment for all men and women is one we should all want to be part of or emulate. It’s an organization filled with people who value ALL members of the community, one which respects the rights of everyone to have a voice, and free speech. It embraces diversity as the fabric of our community, and one that knows society cannot move forward without tolerance.
