It is undeniable that society has made significant efforts to eliminate the various forms of prejudice. Unfortunately, the community is far from attaining equality because most of these strategies have aimed at dealing with the symptoms instead of addressing the root causes biases (King, 2015) . For this reason, it is safe to argue that the efforts that have been directed towards promoting equality have only made prejudice subtle. In this state, the victims still suffer in silence because pointing out that they have been mistreated because of their gender, color or sexuality has become difficult to prove. The fact that the nation has devoted a considerable amount of resources in dealing with different kinds of prejudice without much success tends to create the mindset that preconceived ideas about ‘others’ are innate to humanity. Hence the goal to achieve equality is a utopic dream that will remain unachievable.
Psychologists have provided views by pointing out that prejudice is toxic to the most basic human characteristic that is socialization. As such, no one is born with preconceived views about other communities, but they learn from their environment as they grow up. This notion is double-edged as it provides hope that harmful preconceptions can be eradicated but achieving that goal demands a cultural reform. This paper analyzes the onset of prejudice and how it flourishes by examining how the perception of differences trigger prejudice and ways in which the dominant groups rationalize prejudice. Additionally, the paper uses real-life examples to understand the effects of prejudice on the victimized group as well as privileged enjoyed by the dominant group. Lastly, the paper will examine how prejudice is maintained through government practices.
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Discussion
The link between the Perception of Differences and Prejudice
Prejudice could be described as preconceived feelings towards a person because of personal characteristics like color, age, social, economic cluster and, gender. Since prejudice connotes negative/unfavorable feelings towards ‘others,’ it can also be defined as unreasonable attitudes that are resistant to rationality. On the other hand, perception is the way one regard, understands or interprets the various phenomena within his/her environment. Pre-formed perceptions about a certain group of people pave the way for negative or positive attitudes towards them which are often referred to as prejudice. Gordon Allport, a Psychologist, argue that stereotypes and prejudice emerge as part of conventional human thinking as thoughts and memories are aided by categorization (Fedor, 2014) . Given the complexity of the environment, the human mind is exposed to huge amounts of data at any moment making it impossible to sort each piece of information logically and methodologically. As such, categorization of information allows for easy and quick interactions and reactions which are essential but can lead to mistakes. As such people tend to minimize the existing difference between individuals in certain groups while exaggerating variations between groups. Over time the differences among members in one’s group become apparent, but those of the out-group becomes vague as they are seen as being similar.
Personal insecurities tend to accentuate the differences between an individual’s group and the ‘out-group’ who are merged as a common enemy. By disliking the other who has been differentiated from the ‘in-group,’ the perpetrator wards off his/her feelings of inadequacy by projecting them onto the targeted group. This concept is well-illustrated in Nazi’s ideas of ‘racial purity’ that led systematic killings of Jews in German Concentration camps during World War 2. Despite being a minority group in Germany, Jews were viewed as threats to the social-economic wellbeing of the Germans’. By using propaganda, the Hitler regime alienated the Jews as the enemy of the German community. The outcome was the formation of in-groups as the German’s felt the need to protect themselves who were defenseless given their status and numbers.
From the provided example, it is apparent that the perception of difference triggers the intrinsic need to categorize people in different groups. The noted variation serves as a point of differentiation as one becomes inclined to his/her in-group and views the ‘others’ from an outsider standpoint. Hence a particular characteristic associated with a single or handful members of the out-group extended to all the other members. Over time the differences increase making it impossible for an individual to relate to members of the out-group which paves the way for attitudes, i.e. prejudices that might lead to discrimination.
Rationalization of Prejudice
Despite the increase, if literacy levels, society is still far from eradicating prejudices that serve as the basis of various forms of equality. The immortalization of prejudice could be attributed to human’s tendency to rationalize these stereotypes. Note that people are driven by the intrinsic need to promote their self-interests. Hence members from one group might get angered by the fact that people from the other group are succeeding. Instead of admitting that the rivals are skilled and talented, the offended group might opt to rationalize that the ‘others’ are receiving other additional advantages. The outcome is resentment and alienation of members from the rival groups. Three forms of rationalization exist, and they include denial, avoidance and, victim-blaming (Chapter 2: Understanding Prejudice and its Causes, 2012) .
Denial rationalization is characterized by an individual’s refusal to recognize that people are suffering from existing prejudice. In most cases, this form of rationalization takes a reverse discrimination argument. For instance, a chauvinist might argue that gender prejudice is dealt with as the women and people from minority groups receive jobs that were previously reserved to a particular crowd. In reality, about half of the workforce is made up of women, 10 percent of men from minority communities and, 40 percent white men. Jobs that pay a good salary that is approximately $50,000 are positions with some degree of authority, decision-making and, status. Today three fourth of these positions are held by white men and women continue to pocket less pay compared to men, yet they carry out similar tasks. For this reason, the assumption that affirmative action resolved workplace gender and racial discrimination portray the current problems that women and minority groups face at the workplace as unimportant — refusal to admit that a problem exists to serve as a barrier towards finding practical solutions.
Alternatively, prejudice rationalization can take the form of avoidance where people admit that problems stemming from prejudice exist. Instead of addressing the problem, the individual finds a rationale a reason to avoid finding an effective solution. Thus one can find a partial or false solution to the problem creating the illusion that the issue is being tackled. For example, a university might emphasize that all students take an ethnic studies course as a way of gaining in-depth knowledge on the impacts of prejudice to its victims. However, failure to couple such courses with other policies that are meant to increase diversity renders the ethnic course a superficial solution.
Lastly, some people tend to rationalize prejudice by blaming the victims. In this case, the ‘perpetrators’ accept that prejudice exists instead of fostering change they claim that the victims need to adapt to the societal forces. The proportion of blacks in US prisons is overwhelming. The high numbers of incarcerated African Americans could be attributed to aspects like poverty and judicial injustices. However, people who favor the victim-avoidance rationalization tactic might opt to offer solutions like certain people who have committed minor offended should be given the option of fines. Even though this proposal seems practical, its proponents fail to consider the fact that a good proportion of African Americans from low social, economic classes cannot afford bail. Hence giving them an option of fine will not impact the current situation. On a day to day basis, people tend to apply these forms of rationalizations to justify their attitudes. The outcome has been increased cases of subtle prejudice even though society has become literate.
Impact of Prejudice to its Victims and Privileges enjoyed by the dominant group
According to Szymanski (2011), the effects of prejudice are insidious because they negatively impact an individual’s sense of self. This view can be supported by the fact that the community’s recognition indirectly and directly shapes an individual’s sense of dignity and self-worth Alternatively, the society could be viewed as a mirror-reflection of a person thus a demeaning image can inflict considerable damage to an individual by reinforcing a sense of worthlessness. For this reason, the psychological responses of racial discrimination tend to resemble trauma symptoms such as somatization that is constant anxiety and sensitivity.
Even though prejudice is built around stereotypes and assumptions, the impact of these views to the victims goes beyond narrow perspectives. Religion, racial or gender discrimination underpins today’s institutional and structural dynamics perpetuating the advantage/power held by the dominant group. These power imbalances limit the achievement of the under-privileged which in turn serves as an affirmation the ‘victim’ of prejudice/bias is ‘naturally’ under-deserving. In other words, mistreatment of others due to their characteristics exposes them, i.e. the prejudice victims to an array of mental and physical ailments, self-sabotage and increased risk of substance abuse. Note that these aspects are interconnected in the sense that mental disorders like anxiety and a sense of low self-worthiness increase one’s overall stress levels exposing him/her to chronic health problems and increasing the tendency to self-destruct through unhealthy behaviors like substance abuse.
Unlike the victims of prejudice, perpetrators, i.e. the dominant group tend to retain power meaning that they can either choose to exacerbate or eliminate the problem. As mentioned before, prejudice is based on the self-centered need to promote self-interest; thus anger is directed to groups that serve as threats to this venture. By tormenting the countering group, the perpetrators promote their sense of self which in turn allows them to take advantage of available opportunities at the expense of their victims. The outcome has been the limitation of the victim’s achievement level which serves as an affirmation that they are under-deserving.
Government Practices that have maintained Prejudice
Even though overt discrimination has reduced across government sectors, it is still apparent that minority communities are still suffering the consequences of prejudice in the academic, employment and judicial sectors. In the US, college tuition fee has been increasing at an alarming rate over the years meaning that most capable students who from law social, economic clusters end up missing college education because they cannot afford it. Additionally, the standardized assessment tests that are used in the selection of students who will make it college or not are unfair. Consider a school in a minority neighborhood where most people are living below the poverty line; such a school might not have all the necessary resources to promote learning (Pager & Shepherd, 2010) . Thus making students from such schools to take the same test as those from better schools is outright unfair because learners from better schools have an added advantage. The outcome is poor performance among students from schools in poor/minorities neighborhoods meaning that most of them do not make it to college forcing them to a life of poverty that can be passed down multiple generations.
In the legal sector, minorities are over-represented in offending, victimization and delinquency. Other than the fact that people from minority societies make up a good proportion of the prison population, law enforcement seems to associate people from specific communities with a crime. In 2018, an off-duty police officer from Dallas shot and killed Botham Shem Jean when she mistook his apartment for hers. Such cases have been rampant in the US indicating that a black person is considered a perceived threat.
Conclusion
In conclusion, prejudice can be eliminated if people are willing to re-examine the views that they have considered contemporary truths. Unless people get o a point where they can place themselves in the victim’s position, then prejudice will continue to exist. As such, ending prejudice requires genuine commitment and effort directed at resolving the root causes.
References
Chapter 2: Understanding Prejudice and its Causes. (2012). Chapter 2: Understanding Prejudice and its Causes. Chapter 2: Understanding Prejudice and its Causes , 24-45.
Fedor, C.-G. (2014). Stereotypes and Prejudice in the Perception of the “Other”. Science Direct , 321-326.
King, C. I. (2015, June 26). The key reason why racism remains alive and well in America. The Washington Post .
Pager , D., & Shepherd, H. (2010). The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets. NCBI , 181-209.
Szymanski, D. M. (2011). Racist Events and Individual Coping Styles as Predictors of African American Activism. Journal of Black Psychology .
