Prejudice has been apart of human beings since the beginning of time. People
hold disparaging views towards other groups because of sex, race, color and
religious beliefs. If our society hopes to move forward and continue to be
productive, prejudice must stop. In a time when the world is advanced as it ever
has been, prejudice still remains a major problem. Discovering the roots of
prejudice, and being able to understand prejudice views, we as a society will be
able to find solutions to stop it. To understand prejudice, we must first
consider all the factors that contribute towards it, and then find a way to
counter these factors one by one. Prejudice 3 The Roots of Prejudice There is no
simple one-word answer to the question of what causes people to be prejudice.
The result of prejudice stems from many complex mixtures of environmental
factors, upbringing, media, economic status, and finally experiences. With this
being stated, what is the main factor for prejudice, and what can we as a
society do to overcome prejudice views? When prejudice is mentioned, one tends
to think of white and black conflict, but prejudice views can also be held about
women, age, religion, and other ethnic people. To begin to understand the roots
of prejudice, it must first be defined. Prejudice is an attitude held toward the
member of some group, based solely on their membership in that group. How people
develop their attitudes and stereotypes of other people is where the root of
prejudice begins. By learning how and why prejudice views take root, society
will learn to change these negative opinions. Groups of people who hold
prejudice outlooks about other groups of people tend to process information
about these groups differently from the way they process information about other
groups. The individual traits and behaviors do not affect how they are viewed,
unless their behavior reinforces the prejudice opinion already held. There is a
belief in our society today that things are much better racially now then a
hundred years ago. The media portrays this idea daily. This statement can be
classified as being somewhat true, but we as a society still have a long way to
go to achieve racial harmony. Development of Prejudice There is still an
enormous public display and denial of prejudice in our society. According to
Earl Hutchinson: The most dangerous example of public racial denial is the
militia and patriot movements. Prejudice 4 They depict themselves as
“anti-government activists” fighting to preserve American freedoms. They
exorcised derogatory references to blacks, Jews, Asians, Gays, and Feminists
from their public statements and writings. The media and some civil rights and
liberties groups back them up and print their writings. These groups may differ
in tactics from the old Klan, Nazi Party, and John Birch Society, but they still
unite three points: White Christians must rule America, the federal government
is the enemy, and violence is the only accepted means to gain control. (1996,
p.87) When the media covers these groups, they give them free publicity and a
chance to be heard. Opinions are not only formed from the news, but also from
television, magazines, and radio. For a long time, there were very few programs
that portrayed blacks, Asian, Gays and other ethnic people in a positive manner
on television. Even today, there can be an argument that very few television
shows are geared towards minority races. For example, look at the popular shows
“Friends”, “Frazier”, and “The X-Files”, none of which have a main
minority character. By not having a positively portrayed minority on these
shows, the media is helping prejudice. Media, television and radio are all
contributing factors towards prejudice views, but not the only factors. The
Tradition of Prejudice People learn from a young age to form opinions, values,
beliefs, and stereotypes from their parents. Because parents and environment
play such a major role in children’s upbringing, it should be pointed out that
this is one of the main contributing factors towards forming prejudice views.
When children hear their parents saying something prejudice, or observe them
acting a certain way towards a group, the child begins to form the same
opinions. By forming the same Prejudice 5 beliefs as their parents, they are
inheriting prejudice behavior. Their environment plays just as an important role
in forming prejudice views. Children who come from a poor isolated area have
fewer experiences to draw their own differing opinions from their parents. When
a child comes from a more educated, less isolated environment, they have more
experiences to draw their own opinions from. This can help explain why in the
southern part of the United States people had, and still have a hard time
changing prejudice views. David Goldfield pointed out, “white children
learned, and were taught at an early age that whites were supreme, and therefore
certain relationships with blacks were not acceptable” (1990, p. 12).
Goldfield goes on to explain how the southern view of blacks and minorities was
passed on to generation after generation by stating: Southern white children
learned these lessons in school and recalled them with parents and relatives,
the past becoming more romantic and less challenged by contrary opinions with
each passing generation. This was a society that passed down its heritage
orally. Southerners lived or visited among extended kinship groups, where at
least one member could recall either directly or through a close relative the
Eden of the Old South, the sacrifice and suffering of the war, and the social
and racial givens that emanated from this history. Southerners worshipped their
past; it became their present, and it colored their vision of the future. (1990,
p. 17) By showing how the south passed on prejudice towards blacks and other
minorities as a tradition after the civil war, one can now learn how and why the
roots of prejudice become learned traits. Learning how prejudice is passed on
from parent to child, we can look for ways to stop the tradition of prejudice.
Today, the south does not continue to have such a strong tradition of Prejudice
6 prejudice, but the roots can still be found. For example, just recently in
Texas, three white men dragged a black man behind their car, killing him. In
what became a national media event because of the gruesome and racially
motivated murder, one can see the seeds of prejudice were planted in the three
white males at an early age. They all belonged to white supremacist group and
admitted to killing the black man so they could move up to a higher position
within the group. Even in our society today, discrimination and prejudice can
lead to violence, especially when race is involved. Racial prejudice is not the
only issue facing our society today. There are many forms of gender prejudice
and discrimination as well. Prejudice Towards Women According to Baron and
Byrne, “More than half of the world’s population is female. Yet despite this
fact, in many cultures females have been treated like a minority group” (2000
p.239). In our society, many strides have taken place to further women rights
and equality, yet we still have predominate prejudice towards women. Laws have
been passed world wide to help make prejudice against women illegal, like the
laws to help stop racial prejudice, nonetheless society has turned to a more
subtle prejudice. Examples can be found throughout our society and the world to
prove this statement. How many American Presidents have been women? Look at the
reaction to women officials in the NBA. How many women are CEO’s, professional
coaches, racecar drivers, military leaders, the list goes on and on. With half
the world’s population being comprised of women, you would think they would
hold at least a majority of these positions. Covert prejudice is instead how our
society has learned to be prejudice towards women. Once again, we have certainly
made strides from the past where women were suppose to be “bare foot and
pregnant”, however we still have a long way to go. A prime example of
prejudice towards Prejudice 7 women in our society can be found from our former
Vice President Dan Quayl when he publicly scrutinized the show “Murphy
Brown” for depicting a single working mom having a child out of wedlock. The
second most powerful man in the world was being prejudice towards women for
working and not staying at home with their children. He was blasted by some of
the media, yet he still found quite a few followers from our society. Society
has come along way with beliefs of the roles of women, but we certainly have a
lot further to travel. Another example I would like to present is one that I
experienced in a military Equal Opportunity Training class I participated in.
The instructor began the class by stating she would give an example of gender
prejudice if we would listen to her story and then write down the answer. I
considered myself to be a very unbiased gender person and looked forward to
taking the test. She stated, “a man and his son were traveling and slid on the
ice. The father was instantly killed and the son was taken to the emergency room
in critical condition. Upon arrival, the doctor came out stated they could not
operate on this patience for he was their son.” The instructor asked us to
explain how this could be. My mind raced to come up with the answer. Maybe the
boy had a step father, or the boy’s dad was gay and the doctor was his
partner….I was sure I had came up with the right answer, after all I believed
I did not hold any bias. The simple answer that the doctor was his mother never
occurred to me. Even I have a long way to go with my own gender prejudice, just
like our society. Women have always fought an uphill battle in our society in
fighting gender prejudice. To better understand the history of women fighting
gender prejudice in our society, I quote Veraware.com: American women have
historically been victimized by discrimination in suffrage (which was not
secured until a 1920 constitutional amendment), employment, and other civil
rights (for Prejudice 8 many years, for example, women were denied the right to
serve on juries). In the late 1960s the women's movement experienced a rebirth,
and the demand for legal equality with men was pressed not only against
discriminatory practices but also against outmoded attitudes toward the role of
women in society. Some gains against discrimination in employment were made as a
result of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights
Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution and submitted it to the states for
ratification. With only 35 of the 38 state legislatures ratifying the amendment,
however, the necessary approval was not secured by the 1982 deadline. By
understanding the historic battle to overcome gender prejudice, society is able
to better learn the steps needed to stop the spread of prejudice and come up
with solutions. Solutions to Prejudice The roots of prejudice in our society are
prevalent in many combinations of factors such as, upbringing, environment,
media, and finally experiences. Understanding the roots of prejudice are the
keys to solving the spread of it. First of all, I believe society must keep
passing laws against prejudice and fight it through government policy as stated
by Holly Sklar: We need vigorous debate over how to reshape policy in the public
interest - not the pseudo debate of false campaign promises, negative political
ads and talk radio hate-mongering. Rights and "entitlements" familiar
today - among them the eight-hour day, minimum wage, Social Security and the
right of workers to organize and bargain collectively - were obtained in the
face of strong opposition. Many of these achievements are being eroded.
Demagoguery is threatening democracy. To realize community over chaos we must
not only protect old Prejudice 9 gains, but forge new social, political and
economic rights for the 21st century. (1995, South End Press) Continuing to pass
laws to stop prejudice is a good start, but not the only solution. Society must
learn to educate our children throughout their lives on how to deal with
prejudice and give them the skills to overcome discrimination. Brian Aull
states: Even our federal government is at a loss in dealing with a problem that
is rapidly evolving into a full-blown national crisis. The problem persists
because we have avoided addressing it for what it really is - a social disease,
virulent and infectious, woven into the moral and spiritual fabric of society,
passed from parents to children, from one generation to another, for over three
centuries. The civil rights laws failed to thwart the growth of the cancer of
racism, because they only dealt with two of the disease's symptoms - segregation
and discrimination - but not with the disease itself. (AAR, Internet) I believe
that education and the continuous passing of laws will help stop prejudice at
its roots. Finally, I note that the media plays a big role in how society forms
prejudice views, especially towards blacks. Author’s Kurt K. and Jason T.
surveyed the media for a report and stated: One of the most influential and most
prominate forms of media is the television. Many young Americans watch music
videos, which depict blacks as gangsters, drug dealers, and murderers. Many
movies also seem to show this portrayal of blacks, such as Boyz in the Hood, a
black film about life in the Los Angels community. Newspapers and news shows
report the crimes of blacks because it is more interesting but this form of news
is dangerously influencing young Americans to perceive blacks in a negative
manner. (1997, Internet) Prejudice 10 Changing the media’s portrayal of
prejudice in our society will help people overcome their stereotypes and
discrimination of other groups. All three of these solutions are a good first
step in overcoming prejudice, but no one solution will be the only answer to
solving the problem in our society. Applying all three solutions, education,
reformed media, and continuous passage of new laws will help squash prejudice at
its roots. Conclusion There are many contributing factors to the roots of
prejudice in our society, no one factor greater than the other does. Certainly,
upbringing and environment seems to be an inherit factor that leads to
traditional views of prejudice. While media, experiences and economic factors
contribute to the on-going problem of prejudice in our society. The solution to
overcoming prejudice in our society seems to lie in the ability to educate and
train our children from a young age. This will help give children the tools and
skills necessary for stopping the spread of prejudice in our society. Also,
reform of the media’s portrayal of gender stereotypes and racial stereotypes
need to be addressed. In order to fulfill a society with gender equality, we
must allow women to hold higher jobs and positions of authority throughout our
society. After all, women make up over half of the world’s population. No one
solution will be the only contributing factor in changing societies
traditionally held prejudice, but a combination of all three will help stop
prejudice at its roots. Finally, we as society must want to change as whole in
order to stop prejudice. Our society has taken a lot of steps in the past 400
years in overcoming prejudice as whole, but we still are a long ways away from
achieving complete gender, racial, religious and ethnic harmony. As quoted by
Maya Angelou, “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry,
and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in
Prejudice 11 value no matter what their color.” Or as Gavin Bush say’s,
“Racism is a product of fear and ignorance. The world is richer for the
mixture of different types of people—live and let life remove fear.”

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