& # 8211 ; What Is Prejudice? Essay, Research Paper

Definition Essay

What is Prejudice? When a individual hears the word bias, he or she might believe it merely refers to the racial bias frequently found between those with light tegument and those with dark tegument. However, bias tallies much deeper than a individual & # 8217 ; s colour. Prejudice is found between gender, faith, cultural and geographical background, and race. Peoples have discriminated against others based upon these properties from the beginning of clip. Prejudice has become a complex job in our society today and much of our universe & # 8217 ; s history is based upon such hatred. In the 1600 & # 8217 ; s, white work forces used Africans as slaves and treated them as if they were non human. & # 8220 ; Colored & # 8221 ; people were non even allowed to utilize the same imbibing fountains as white people until the mid-1900 & # 8217 ; s. Hitler and his work forces killed over five million people because they were Judaic or were non their definition of & # 8220 ; normal. & # 8221 ; The Ku Klux Klan exists today and openly professes its hatred towards Jews and coloured people. Our society is riddled with such hates based upon peoples & # 8217 ; beliefs and beginnings and it seems 1000000s are contending each other for no relevant ground at all. I do believe that we can greatly cut down the sum of bias in our universe today, yet I do non believe that it will of all time wholly travel off. Society has apparently come to except all races, faiths, and genders, and purportedly has achieved & # 8220 ; political rightness & # 8221 ; yet there will everlastingly be persons who discriminate based upon these issues. These persons frequently form big groups that recruit new members to implement their hate of those with a certain faith or tegument tone. Obviously, no 1 can state these people that they can non hold their ain sentiments or beliefs, for they have the right to detest whomever they like. However, I believe we need to raise our kids to accept all people, no affair what god they do or make non believe in or what colour tegument they may hold. If kids are raised around people who are non the same as they are, so they will most likely non believe anything different of people who do non look the same as them or believe what they believe. If we raise our kids to believe all people are equal from the start, so bias will slowly disintegrate over clip. We, as the human race, need to concentrate on non judging pe

ople before we know them for who they are. Today, there are so many different people in this world that stereotypes are almost always incorrect, as many people choose not to be followers, but to be individuals. I know many white people who, if they see a young black male standing on the corner, wearing a certain type of clothing, will discern that he is in a gang and has intentions of hurting others. How could someone say such a thing when all they have seen is one’s appearance? The boy standing there could be a great student in school who helps others and plans to become someone important in the future. Asians, African-Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians, and all other ethnic groups need to look past each other’s physical attributes and start looking inside a person to see who they truly are. After all, personalities do not lie on the outside of one’s body, but in one’s mind. I believe people need to stop “following the crowd” and form their own opinions. I am very sure that few members of the Ku Klux Klan originally felt as if whites are superior to all other races. They simply felt as if they would fit in better and would be more popular or on a higher level if they believed such ideas. As the Klan gained members, it became more powerful and an increasing number of people felt as if their lives would be improved if they joined the group. Parents and schools need to teach children that people need to have courtesy and kindness towards others, no matter what. People join these racist and religiously biased groups because they feel it will make their lives better, not caring about the others who will be affected by their hatred. Parents need to teach their children the value of treating others as they, themselves, would like to be treated. If everyone in this world had respect for one another, we would live in peace and be able to let others believe in what they wish and accept that everyone is different. I believe it all comes down to parents teaching their children right from wrong in our world and raising them in an environment that is centered around acceptance of different ways of life and cultures of people. If we all teach our children and change our ways, sometime in our future we will be closer to accepting that a man’s character is based upon the content of his soul, not his religion, gender, ethnicity, or the color of his skin.