Two Ways to Reduce Prejudice
Two ways in which prejudice can be reduced are Equal status contact
and the pursuit of common goals.
Deutsch and Collins (1951) carried out an early study of equal status
contact. They compared two kinds of housing projects, one of which was
thoroughly integrated with blacks and whites who were assigned houses
regardless of their race, and the other was segregated. The residents
of both housing projects were intensively interviewed and it was found
that both casual and neighbourly contact were greater in the
integrated housing with less prejudice among whites towards blacks. It
appeared to be environmental support, which was sustaining prejudice
in the segregated housing. This shows us that when people of different
racial groups or in fact any kind of group are put together in a
situation where they can not do much about it grow to be less
prejudice and get along more easily than those who are away from mixed
groups of people. Therefore you could reduce prejudice by mixing
different groups of people together in one community, this way
everyone has the same rights and it is of equal status.
Stouffer (1942) and Amir (1969) found that inter-racial attitudes
improved markedly when blacks and whites served together as soldiers
in battle and on ships however, relationships were not very good at
the base camp. This shows that when mixed groups are made to work
together the prejudice is reduced however when put in a neutral
situation, i.e. the base camp where they can mingle with their "own
people" this prejudice is increased once again.
Stephan (1978) looked at a number of studies and concluded that
de-segregation seems not to have reduced white prejudice towards
blacks, and black prejudice towards whites appears to have increased.
Schofield (1982) studied a 'model' integrated school, he found that at
first interaction and friendship were led by group attitudes and then
slowly started to take account of personal qualities over a three year
period. However, racial attitudes changed very little over this time.
The author provides several examples of survey results that illustrate this. For example, while a majority of whites wanted separate schooling, transportation, etc. for blacks, less than 25 percent of whites wanted that in the 1970s. Also since 1940, the number of whites who believe and act on the stereotypes of blacks has decreased significantly (though, it is still high, ranging anywhere from 20-50 percent). Bonilla-Silva provides four trends in which these changes in racial attitudes have changed: racial optimists, racial pesoptimists, symbolic racism and sense of group
People of different ethnic backgrounds are influenced by both cultural and societal normalities to want to naturally return to their own ethnic groups. In Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book “Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum tries to explain why in even racially diverse schools, people of the same race tend to gravitate toward one another causing racial separation. Tatum claims that people of the same race, particularly black kids, are likely to turn toward people who understand their shared perspective. Although Tatum effectively uses a conversational tone and emotionally charged words, her overuse of biased interviews and experiences forces the reader to question the validity of her portrayal of race relations.
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Sue both demonstrate from their research that Whites do not comprehend the impact of their unconscious biases. These biases towards students of colour in a white-based post-secondary school environment can result in stress and weak interracial relationships. This is an issue since the significance of these everyday actions is not fully recognized and acknowledged. I will elaborate on a variety of examples, specifically the influence of the peers, and faculty.
I HAVE A STRONG belief that PREJUDICE also HAPPENS within a group. If you belong to a social group and there is OTHER group who are OPPOSE TO PREVIOUS GROUP, for example 'charvas ' and 'Goths ' there is usually hostility between the THIS GROUPS, because they HAVE DIFFERENT DRESS CODE and enjoy DIFFERENT HOBBIES. However, if these OPPOSITE groups HAVE NO OPTION TO COORPORATE together in a CERTAIN POSITION that they had NO OTHER CHOICE, the BOUNDARY 'drawn ' between them LIKE 38TH PARALLEL would BE DESTORYED and BE ABLE get along TOGETHER. However, as discussES in a VARITIES of EXPERIMENT, Aronson et. al. who OPERATED with the jigsaw SERVEY technique, it has CERTIFIED that changes in prejudGEMENTAL arising from the PERFORMING situation may not generalize to other INCIDENTS and until prejudice is DEDUCED in society, for example through edification which will practice these methods, people will be further likely to stay within their private group and remain to be unreceptive to groups that are diverse from
Because institutionalized racism is a factor that affects how individuals engage with race, Packer’s “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Stories” proves that institutional racism aids in causing segregation. In the article “Disguised Racism in Public Schools,” Samuel Brodbelt goes into great detail about how institutionalized racism is seen in many public schools today. He also further explains how the effects of institutionalized racism may cause segregation between the races. Brodbelt states “today, the public schools serve as an example of the extent of institutional racism” (Brodbelt 699).
to know participants who may in work be of a lower status but in this
In 1995, the Carnegie Corporation commissioned a number of papers to summarize research that could be used to improve race relations in schools and youth organizations. One way to fight against racism is to “start teaching the importance of and strategies for positive intergroup relations when children are young”(Teaching Tolerance,). Bias is learned at an early age, often at home, so schools should offer lessons of tolerance and
Today, Americans may not recognize the substantial impact of integration, or at least at times, I don’t. In this way, racism and segregation are combatted. However, some people may still believe in segregation. The importance of integrating children’s education systems was, and still is, pivotal in combatting racism because in school, all children are equal regardless of personal beliefs.
Today, there are many Americans that believe racism ended with Jim Crow laws being abolished. Many believe it ended when “Separate but Equal” was no longer legal, and most recently people point to former President Obama and believe race is no longer an issue in the United States of America. These people are wrong for so many reason, but one of the biggest is that white Americans are segregating themselves from minorities. According to Bonilla-Silva and Embrick, only few white americans are integrated. Only four out of forty-one students have lived in a residential neighborhood with a significant black presence (Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo and Embrick, David). Additionally, 87% of white respondents said none of their 3 closest
Racism and prejudice has been present in almost every civilization and society throughout history. Even though the world has progressed greatly in the last couple of decades, both socially and technologically, racism, hatred and prejudice still exists today, deeply embedded in old-fashioned, narrow-minded traditions and values.
During this time, the idea of segregation was a very controversial topic among the c...
About me, what stills needs to be done is eliminating racial prejudice in a lot of U.S citizens today.
The initial study of this theory was conducted in a three-step experiment. In the 1950’s Muzafer Sherif conducted a study at Robber’s Cave State Park in Oklahoma (Sheriff & Sherif, 1953 p. 5). Baumeister & Bushman (2011) explained, “…22 white, middle class, 11-year old boys were thought they were going on a summer camp experience…Sherif divided the group into two groups of eleven…During the first stage, the two groups had no contact with each other. The boys in each camp became good friends… During the second stage, the boys met each other and competed in contests such as baseball and tug of war… The stakes were high, because the winners took home valuable prizes… The contests produced strong feelings of prejudice toward the other group… In the third stage, researchers tried to reduce the hostility between groups. They soon found that creating hostility was much easier than reducing it” (p. 403-404).” By the end of the program, opposing attitudes began to dwindle, but only after bringing the groups together by using subordinate goals, or a goal that con only be completed with the assistance of others. Because the boys only had a limited number of prizes they could win, and competition for those pri...
Everyone has some prejudices or biases that guide how they treat others throughout the day. Sometimes, those prejudices are so intense that others are harmed or treated badly in the workplace where everyone should be treated with respect. Common prejudices are based on race, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds. This paper will look at when a party is treated differently because of ethnicity even if they are of the same race as the person prejudicial to them.