Racial Prejudice
What is prejudice?
- set of learned beliefs and values that lead a person to be biased against other members of other groups.
-prejudices are convenient(bequem,brauchbar,passend) and inaccurate.
----> people are not seen as individuals, biased people label other people to special groups
-prejudice is mostly based on inaccurate information about people
Prejudice originates from three common parts(these parts make up a prejudiced belief):
1.Generalisations
-a very broad , simple statement about a group of people
-here is perhaps an appropiate point to provide an example:"All catholics" or when the word "they" figures strongly
-key words for generalisations are "all" and "they"
--->generalisations are also very inaccurate
, because we are not justified in saying that all members of these group or race share the same characteristic features.
G. are unfair descriptions of people and they are mostly based on very incomplete information.
Having met one member from a different group with an extraordinary behaviour ,we often assume that all mebers of this group show this same extraordinary behaviour.
2.Stereotyping
-exaggerated,often negative image of a particular group of people
-a stereotyp often contains a grain of truth , but this grain of truth is combined with an exaggerated and undue image of this group.
Ethnocentricity
-there are two types of prejudices:
1.prejudice against all outsiders-->your group is the only right and proper,all other groups are excludud,other groups are portrayed as being strange and inferior.
2.prejudice against specific groups----> you are able to cope with some other groups,but you disapprove a special group of their religion-->that's why you have a prejudice against this particular group.But this kind of prejudice does not express that your religion is the best and that all other religions are worser than your own one.You are only biased against this particular religion.
---->prejudice against all other groups is called ethnocentricity
Prejudice and discrimination
Discrimination:
-Speaking of Discrimination against a special group we mean the combination of prejudice with actions
- In this sense the word "discriminating" means that we are treating a group in a negative way.
-the effect of people are discriminated against:loss in terms of money ,housing,education
-the forms of Discrimination:
1.verbal abuse(anti-locution)--->through specific terms--->undermines their confidence-feeling of "I am not desired in this society"
2.Discrimination in jobs--->Refusal of jobs to a group-->disadvantage in terms of jobs,income,personal decline.
3.Attack on property-->destruction of cars-->Expulsion because there is a lack of physical security
4.Physical attack---->Assaults on group members;stabs;deaths--->further lack of security;anger;frustration;formation of self-defence groups
5.Genocide--->mass murder of all--->extermination of whole families and cultural groups
Racial prejudice or racism
-always aimed at special groups
-racism bases on the belief that
Discrimination is known as unjust treatment of a particular group. In The Ways We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson, she discusses stereotypes and cliches (Ericsson 478). Discrimination is often a stereotypical device
Some people say prejudice is part of human nature. Others think we learn it from our elders. Either one could be true, as there are various controversial beliefs about why prejudice exists in the world. One interesting theory is that prejudice is an emotional reaction that is triggered in our brain whenever we encounter unknown people, who have different physical characteristics, different personalities, and/or different beliefs. In fact, these unfamiliar people scare us, and we start treating them differently to reassure ourselves that they cannot possibly matter to us. Another possible reason for prejudice could be negative education about others, either direct or indirect. An example of the direct type would be that you are deliberately taught to avoid certain people who are discriminate...
...ce, personality, and genetics that we all share (p. 5). While we try our best to not discriminate or oppress as humans we have unfortunately been taught to categorize. We are born with the ability to quickly gather information and categorize it in a way that makes sense to us. We categorize people by what they say, how they act, how they look and in this situation the language they choose to speak. This way of categorizing often leads to shallow or hurtful stereotypes these thoughts are inevitable. By judging, assuming we created the negative stigma and form ideas about what or who we think we know.
misconceptions. Stereotypes are a big image or idea of a particular group, type of person, or
In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group they claim to be. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is.
The word prejudice is derived from the Latin word " praejudicium" and refers to prejudging without any factual evidence. Being prejudiced usually means having preconceived beliefs about groups of people or cultural practices. Discrimination is the "differential and unequal treatment of other groups of people, usually along racial, religious or ethnic lines." The distinction is that prejudice then refers to people's attitudes and beliefs, and discrimination to their overt behavior directed at another group. (Parrillo 76)
“Meanings justify the differential treatment that groups receive as some groups are deemed more worthy of, and eligible to receive, society’s valued resources than others. It now serves as a way to treat people unfairly” (Smith, Racilization). Discrimination perpetuates race and leads to racial inequality. Discrimination can be categorical or statistical. Categorical discrimination is unfair treatment from the discriminator of people from a particular social group because he believes this discrimination is mandatory for acceptance into his social group. Statistical discrimination is unfair treatment of an individual because of the preconceived notions that are prevalent surrounding the social group they take part
Every group or culture in society has some type of stereotype directed towards it. These stereotypes make the public see gro0ups in one way when in reality they may be the exact opposite of the stereotypes. Because of this many individuals always judge a group based on solely the stereotypes heard about the groups. Also because of this many confuse people as been part of a group only because the individuals either fit the stereotypes of appearance or personality of people who should be part of that certain group. So due to this many may be mistaken as been part of a group when that individual in reality may not be part of the group. These stereotypes also lead to many misunderstandings been formed about the actual individuals who are a part of the groups. Th...
Scapegoating is when a person irrationally blames their failures on others, therefore not taking responsibility themselves. The “scapegoating theory says that prejudiced people believe they are society’s victims” (Schaefer 38). It is always someone else’s fault that things do not go their way and the person “… transfers the responsibility for failure to some vulnerable group” (Schaefer 38).
From the reading I learned prejudice is when a person attaches negative emotion to a certain group of people that is not based on facts. Prejudice has two levels cognitive or affective where the cognitive is thinking and feeling prejudice while affecting is actually doing prejudice actions. Discrimination is also discussed in chapter one. Discrimination is unequal behavior or treatment of a person based on them being a member of a group. An example of discrimination would be not getting selected for a job because you are African
Prejudice, this is the behavior of individuals basing their superiority by their racial or physical characteristics. Racial Assumptions, these are the quiet assumptions that we hold on other races. Such as you think because he is black he is a hoodlum or loves fried chicken. Or because he is Chinese he is very good in math or has squinty eyes.
The second feature and characteristic of stereotyping is the exaggeration of the difference between ones own group (the in-group) and the 'other' group (the out-group). This can be traced back to the work of Tajfel during the 1950's - 'the accentuation principle' (Tajfel, 1981). Tajfel's work was specifically on physical stimuli, and concluded that judgements on such stimuli are not made in isolation, but in the context of other factors. Applied socially - a judgement about an out-group relies upon other factors surrounding the judgement in question, as well as making a statement about the in-group and the relationship between the two groups.
While similar, the terms stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination all have their own distinct meanings. Gorham defines stereotypes as the organization of beliefs and assumptions people have toward social groups (19). Stereotypes can often be misrepresentative of a particular group because people unknowingly make assumptions about other people based on the knowledge they have acquired from media and/or people not in that particular social group. Examples of stereotypes can be beliefs that people of Asian descent are inherently good at math or that all black men are criminals. Unlike stereotypes which are predetermined assumptions people make about social groups, prejudice is holding negative feelings toward a group of people without fairly
Prejudice can create a sense of, “ a feeling of superiority,” (Myers 330). of being When an in-group believes that they are a better or superior than the out-group, this will feel as though the out group is the weaker or inferior group. For instance, a spanish male believes that all white people are cold hearted people. He feels that based on his culture and how open and warm loving spanish people are, that they are better than white people. That since white people aren’t as warm and caring that they must be the
Four main things that play into prejudice are the different levels of prejudice, self-justification, personality, and one’s frustration. There are different severities to each prejudice; some take it more seriously than others. Maybe it is a form of feeling good for some, feeling better than those around you. Having a prejudice is not the best way to go about handling a tough situation, but many have them. Personal experiences, jealousy, and hatred are just a few of the attributes that lye behind prejudices. Some may have been learned, and some may be just out of pure ignorance. No one was born to have negative feelings towards a group of “different” individuals. Yes, we are human and no one is perfect, but if prejudice were an innate behavior, all people of the same kind would feel the same way towards the other “excommunicated” individuals. Different people have been raised with different belief systems and cultural practices. If one was raised their whole life being told that people of this specific group were bad, they would obviously have the same feelings towards them. Whether it is back in the 1800s or now, people still have prejudices against those of other sexes, race and ethnicity, and religions. All in all, many prejudices stem from others’ pride, stubbornness, fear, hatred, or maybe even their own