JOHN LEO'S BLOG

In his recent column, John Leo poked fun at some seemingly ridiculous "victims." However, when he mentioned the victimization of redheads, he failed to take into account some very real cultural differences. As Americans, it is almost impossible for us to understand, but having lived in Britain for six months and dated "a ginger" (which is actually a pretty offensive term that redheads are apparently trying to "reclaim") while there, I have seen this prejudice firsthand, and it is very real. "Gingers" are often treated like second-class citizens, and people won't think twice about insulting them for no reason to their face.

Redheads often have low self-esteem because they've been teased and insulted since they were children–but it doesn't stop in the schoolyard. In the workplace, the dating world, anywhere–discrimination against redheads may be ridiculous, but it's very real and very disgusting. Discrimination against someone because of the color of his or her hair is just as bad as discrimination because of skin color, and while I can't say for New Zealand, in Britain it seems to have reached the same level as racial prejudice. While it hardly makes sense to us, it's a fact of life in Britain.

Who knew?