prejudice

Prejudice is an unjustified negative attitude toward a group, a category of people, or a cultural practice. Prejudice against a group carries a strong emotional discomfort with, dislikes of outright hatred of its members. Often it is based on a negative stereotype that resist rational argument. Many prejudices are passed along from parents to children, in messages that say “ We don’t associate with those kind of people”, sometimes without either generation having ever met the object of their dislikes.People cling to some attitudes like life preserves but they are persuaded to give up on others. The different casual connections between attitudes and behavior can be seen so clearly in the case of prejudice. In some cases the attitude (prejudice) leads to behavior of discrimination. Discrimination may be slim, as when a person refuses to associate with targets of the prejudice. In the United States prejudice has led to the hanging of blacks, bombing of synagogues, the massacre of Native Americans, the Coker 2harassment of homosexuals, and other violent acts against minority groups. Sometimes people who have prejudiced attitudes are prevented from discriminating because of the law, social convention, or other interests. Even people with no prejudices may nevertheless discriminate in their behavior.Although many claim we live in an age of enlightenment, discrimination in the workplace remains common. When employment decisions are based on a employees race, sex, religion, the impact is felt on many levels. Economically, qualified employees are denied decent jobs. Some of the biggest racists are those who don’t even know that they are, and even say that they are not. These people are racists because they cannot comprehend what is happening and do not realize what they are saying is racist. Often times these people feel that just because a person is a certain color or race, that they must be a thief or a crimin...