Racisim and Racial Prejudice

Racism is a certain kind of prejudice, based on faulty reasoning and inflexible generalizations toward a specific group. The word prejudice comes from the Latin noun prejudicial, which means a judgment based on previous decisions formed before the facts were known. If a person allows their prejudiced beliefs to block the progress of another, it is discrimination. Those who exclude others from certain types of employment, housing, political rights, educational opportunities, or social interactions are guilty of racial discrimination. Stereotyping, the prejudgment of others based on their race, color, sex, and religion, is also another of the many forms of racism. In fact stereotyping is quite possible the most subtle and misunderstood form of racism. This is due in part to the fact that many people do not understand exactly what stereotyping is and how badly it affects others.

Racism is no longer just one race hating another. It has enveloped almost all aspects of our society. Many people today live their lives oblivious to what is happening in the world around them, often trying to convince themselves that racism is not a problem in their world. Others know all about the problem, but don’t really realize that they themselves could possibly be adding to the problem by discriminating against someone else’s human rights, and at the same time going around saying how open-minded they are.

One of the main problems of racism is that many people live in racist conditions, without even seeing it. Oftentimes it’s in their school, workplace, community, or even in their own homes. People often tell jokes with racist slurs, and while we know not to laugh at ones about blacks, it seems that ones about other races like Chinese and Hispanic are okay. We tell ourselves that they are just jokes, but not to those who they are ridiculing. We are all perpetrators of this and we usually feel that these types of jokes are harmless. They can be harmless and maybe at times we even think they are funny, but they are also hurtful and degrading. Some of the biggest racists are those who don’t even know that they are, and even say that they aren’t. These people are racist because they cannot comprehend what is happening and do not realize what they are saying is racist. Until they come to grips with this problem, in their minds there is no problem.