As a society, it is easy to develop racial prejudice because people are often segregated based on certain racial categories. Historically, the word ‘race’ has more meaning than just physical differences. Race may be taken to include natural classification based on hierarchy postulated by God and nature. Notably, colonial situations made use of the term ‘race’ quite often as a mode of classifying individuals. During the colonial period, persons of European descent considered themselves superior to any other group, and they justified this kind of perception with the use of God-given qualities they possessed. As a result, the belief in hierarchical order based on races was then spread across the globe with Europeans as the superior beings, which then justified certain atrocities such as slavery. The paper seeks to find out why is it so easy to develop and retain racial prejudice and at the same time establish possible solutions. Racial discrimination is a negative concept that derails the society of its potential, and the best way to stop it should start right from classroom interaction and teaching principles.
It is essential to understand firsthand what it means by prejudice, which is a baseless and damaging attitude directed toward a section of members in a particular setup. Some of the recognizable symptoms include stereotyped beliefs, negative emotional states, and the inclination to discriminate against other persons of the group ( Hoffman et al., 2016) . Others may define it as negative prejudgment about individual members of society. Race can further be derived from biological constructs. Racial prejudice can be described as rational decisions that a person may make on others based on race, regardless of having objective proof on the contrary. Notably, sociologists define race as cultural, social, and political notions, which are primarily based on superficial appearances.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Developing Racial Prejudice
The right-wing theory can be used to explain why it is easy to create and retain racial prejudice. There are people who perceive the world regarding social hierarchy, thus placing some people well ahead of others. Therefore, individuals with such kinds of perception are more likely to foster prejudice in whatever place they may exist. In most cases, such people would want their ‘group’ to dominate and stay superior to others. This case is a scenario of social dominance orientation. Consequently, it is important to preach social equality in the classrooms so that the students can adapt the sense of impartiality. Just like in the learning process, a student may tend to learn from a teacher of better and great principles; thus, it is then viable to start right from simple behavioral tactics in school.
Human’s categorical thinking can further be connected to prejudice, which is a kind of reasoning that tries to link the human mind with the help of categories. Therefore, once a person has formed categorization in his or her mind, then it becomes a basis for formulating prejudgment (a process that no human can avoid): Any living being undeniably depends on this kind of notion. Categorization, however, can sometimes become fuzzy, especially when categories overlap, for example in classifying homosexuals and transgender who take the shape of females and males. Therefore, the social construction by racial categories has encouraged prejudice based on the faulty attempts to classify people racially.
Another thing that encourages the development of racial prejudice is linked to psychology. Based on the categorical thinking characteristics of human beings, people can distort perceptions. People can quickly destroy the differences in people by minimizing them, a process known as assimilation. Also, people often tend to either exaggerate or contrast the differences (Pierson, 2013). Therefore, it is often easy to use these disparities to create a social advantage over a certain group through demeaning the same. It is this exaggeration of the traits that make the difference that creates malice in different groups. Thus, people may use it as a weapon to encourage likeness.
Based on homogeneity thinking perception, in-group is defined as a group to which a person belongs and out-group as that to which someone does not fit. Therefore, people of one group would tend to view the other counterpart as an outcast. As a result, they are more likely stereotyped based on the things that make them different from others. The kind of perception holds for any out-group whether it is in the case of religion, race, or any naturally existing group.
In another concept, self-esteem is a significant contributor to the case of racial prejudice. In this case, people often try to form groups which they think makes them better as compared to others. In their perception, they feel that they are far much better than others. As a result, they tend to demean others who do not hold the same characteristics as they do. In the process, they exercise high self-esteem by identifying with such groups perceived superior to the other. Such persons tend to discern others in one way or the other, which then promotes prejudice.
Racial prejudice can as well be linked to a mental mistake. In this sense, people are used to classifying things, objects, and ideas into different groups in a bid to make the world simple to understand. In brief, human beings are often exposed to a lot of information on a daily basis to sort them out logically and rationally. Therefore, being in a position to categorize this kind of information then enables people to interact freely and respond faster, but it also results in mistakes. Racial prejudice is one example of those mistakes that come into existence as people try to classify information in the surrounding environment. Undeniably, it is harmful and derails the peaceful coexistence.
Ways of Reducing Racial Prejudice
In addition to exploring the reasons as to why racial prejudice occurs, it is prudent to look at the possible means of eliminating it. One primary method is through teaching individuals to be empathetic to members of another group (Pierson, 2018). It can begin at the childhood level, right from the classroom. Training people to be in the same recipient situation and to envisage how they would feel if they were the victims is a particular method of enhancing understanding of racial prejudice. Just as in the school, students are more likely to learn from teachers acting as role models, and for this reason, it is a trend that can go all the way to the case of racial prejudice.
Another method of curbing racial prejudice is through encouraging contact with members of another social group. The school environment is the platform where people get to learn many things in the world. Therefore, teachers and any other facilitator in the school setting should encourage things that bring people of various races together to diminish the attitude of racial prejudice. Significantly, teaching people to be aware of the inconsistencies in their beliefs about others is one method of encouraging better categorical thinking among the learners, an attribute they can retain throughout their lives.
Another method is through passing laws and regulations that do not discriminate people based on race. Through this, people will get to embrace the idea that all are equal in spite of the observable differences that categorize them. As a result, people will come to terms with the fact that things that make up racial disparities cannot surpass human race. In the same token, it is then prudent and logical to talk about things that may spur racial prejudice as silence may signify tacit approval of the same. Apart from passing laws, teaching the children on matters of categorization based on race should be paramount. In this sense, they can learn to embrace and accept differences in people. As a result, people would develop respect for others regardless of the disparities they see.
Conclusion
Prejudice is a learned trait that affects everyone and all races. When people tend to make a judgment on others based on race, there are possibly several reasons for their type of behavior and developed attitudes. However, a course of hope exists in the presence of racial prejudice. Some of the reasons fostering the existence of racial prejudice include perceiving others regarding social hierarchy, categorical thinking skills, ability to distort perceptions, homogeneity thinking syndrome, self-esteem problem, and the mental mistakes characteristic of human beings. As a solution to this problem, teaching others about racial prejudice can help solve the situation. Other remedies discussed so far include passing laws and regulations, encouraging contact amongst members of different social groups, and condemning acts of prejudice based on race. The more openly people can communicate with others of varying nature, the more they would gain a deeper insight into some of their views and ways of life. It is something that cannot go away overnight, in a week, or in a year, but it may take millions of people in the world to develop trust and understanding of others to bring people together in one human race.
References
Hoffman, K. M., Trawalter, S., Axt, J. R., & Oliver, M. N. (2016). Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 113 (16), 4296-4301.
Pierson, R. (2013). Every Kid Needs a Champion [Video file]. TED RADIO HOUR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2013/06/21/179822992/what-role-do-relationships-play-in-learning
Pierson, R. (2018). The Principal of Change : Stories of learning and leading. georgecouros.c . Retrieved from www.georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/tag/rita-pierson
