AN

ANALYSIS

OF

P R E J U D I C E


by
Robert Park



"See that man over there?"
"Yes."
"Well, I hate him."
"But you don't know him."
"That's why I hate him!"




English S6
West High School
March 8, 1957



Robert Park, 2
March 8, l957
                         



An Analysis of Prejudice


        There are many and subtle ways that the disease of prejudice finds first roots in the human mind. Often the original feeling of an "in-group" and an "out-group" are created by a child's knowledge of love and being loved and things familiar and unfamiliar. Prejudice may also get its start through a simple and natural predilection or preference that a person has for a certain type of culture, a specific language, or a particular color of skin. Such beginnings of intolerance are not dangerous in themselves, but they may pave the way toward stronger and more harmful prejudices. There are a number of more direct causes which may make use of these foundations or work without them to bring about prejudice.

        Parents, teacher, and others in a child's daily life who command his respect may teach the child to be prejudiced by unconsciously setting bad examples. Their attitudes are betrayed to him through their gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, and manner of approach, as well as through what they say, and the child imitates these actions and attitudes.

        Many people accept the prejudiced ideas of their group because they want to feel that they are a part of the group and that the group approves of them.

        An unfortunate association with a member of a minority group, especially in childhood, can lead to set ideas about the minority group as a whole which are hard to get rid of. An example of this would be when the first Negro a white boy ever saw happened to be a dirty, noisy, drunkard. The boy might well go on to ascribe these characteristics to all Negroes unless the idea was proved wrong before he had it well set in his mind. Limited contact with members of a minority which show mainly the negative side of the picture also causes prejudice based on attributing the characteristics of a few individuals to the whole group.

        This practice of giving whole groups certain traits and characteristics is called stereotyping. When related to prejudice, a stereotype is an incorrect, out-dated, restricting mental picture about a minority group.

        The incorrect statements and wrong ideas about minority groups which we run across almost daily are another important cause of prejudice. Wherever ignorance of the scientific facts and lack of firsthand experience with minority members exist, stereotypes and false "labels"* abound. These generalizations are unfair and extremely inaccurate. No group of human beings has any important features which are truly characteristic of that group. All goups are basically the same in ability to learn, in physical make-up, and in traits supposedly belonging to particular groups.
_______________
        * Labels are the names prejudiced people are always ready to apply to minority groups, as in the Negro being classed as "lazy, shiftless, and stupid."

        Prejudiced leaders in our government and others in positions of influence are doing more than their share in spreading prejudice. We must try to keep tolerant leaders in influential places and be able to recognize a prejudiced attitude when we hear it.

        The fallacious idea that the white "race"* is superior to darker skinned peoples is also prompting a good deal of intolerance. To a child, the discrimination and segregation in our country resulting from prejudice might seem to bear out this "white superiority."

        The material advantages of prejudice are further reason for its existence. Individuals often use their prejudice against certain groups as an excuse for actions they could not ordinarily justify. Some men seeking foul ends have used prejudice as a means of eliminating enemy groups and uniting their own at the same time.

        Individuals who have inferiority attitudes underneath frequently try to increase their feeling of self-importance and power by belittling and discriminating against minority groups.
_______________
* The only three actual "races" are the Negroid, Caucasoid, and Mongoloid stocks.

        The final and most important cause of prejudice is the displacement of resentment and blame for our troubles from the real causes onto a scapegoat, usually a minority group. Most prejudice has its roots in childhood because that is when people first start building up resentment. Parents are most commonly the cause of their children's resentments, because they sometimes fail to give their children the feeling that they are wanted, loved, appreciated, and are an integral part of the family. The same result comes from failure to provide a way in which the child can express the resentments that naturally occur from time to time. When expression of resentment against the real cause is discouraged, a person tends to deny his resentment, thus putting it beyond control. Whether he admits it or not, however, it must eventually find some outlet. Since if he lets it out directly he will have to admit its existence, the person disguises the resentment and expresses it as prejudice. By this time he is probably completely unaware of the original causes of his resentment and intolerance.

        Prejudiced thoughts and actions often result in feelings of guilt and anger at oneself. This new resentment completes the vicious circle by finding expression in still more prejudice. Also the victims of our prejudice generate resentment and express it against the majority or another minority group.

        The results of prejudice are many and far reaching. Often the person who is prejudiced is hurt more by it than the victim. While they may seem alike on the surface, tolerant and intolerant people are quite different inside. The intolerant adolescent who inwardly feels hostile toward his parents often outwardly glorifies them, thinks of them as practically infallible, and accepts almost everything they say and do as right. The tolerant adolescent, on the other hand, can see that his parents are not incapable of making a mistake or being wrong, and he exercises a good deal of independence in his thinking which he carries over into his attitude toward minority groups. A tolerant person is more capable in facing and handling his problems than an intolerant person, too. Also, while both may seem to be happy, the prejudiced person's emotions are in a turmoil underneath, and he cannot know the kind of happiness that the unprejudiced person does.

        Some one who is narrow-minded about prejudice is usually narrow-minded about other things too, like how to do his job better, how to male more money, how to have fun, and how to do anything new. The rigidity of his attitude toward minority groups and his unwillingness to face facts that don't coincide with his ideas, may result in a mental rigidity that spreads to all areas of his thinking and becomes a barrier in everything he does.

        Strong prejudice in a person's mind causes a good deal of mental strain and tension, and in advanced cases it may cause a nervous breakdown or any of a number of ailments including stomach ulcers,high blood pressure, and heart trouble.

        Prejudice is, of course, also harmful to its victims. Discrimination and segregation and other expressions of prejudice cause a great deal of unhappiness and suffering, bitterness and enmity in our country.
[The remainder of the report is handwritten]