Dealing With Prejudice

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Prejudice is a part of human nature. There is no easy way to describe what it is or why we, as humans, do it. There are so many different ways. “Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice” (Chrichton). This quote is a very well defines what prejudice is. America is known as the land of the free, but we are never free as long as prejudice exists. Many people have been and still are suffering from the consequences of unjust prejudice.
The different types of prejudice are endless. From age, to race, to appearance. If there was a country with all the same race, prejudice would still exist. We are prejudiced against for the way we look. For example, it can be as simple as saying somebody with tattoos and a beard is a criminal. Or after 9/11 occurred, people who were Arabic and/or practiced the muslin religion were looked at differently in the United States. For a while after so many people were arrested, abused and harassed all for their culture. Most of them had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks yet they were treated differently because of fear. A previous boss of mine wouldn’t help another co-worker because she didn’t understand what he was saying right away. He wouldn’t help because she wasn’t smart enough for him. That’s another prime example of prejudice. It’s all around us in the world whether we intentionally or unintentionally do it.
Prejudice is very different from discrimination. Prejudice is a thought or attitude towards something. While discrimination is acting out. To compare the two, let’s look at an example. Women in the workplace is a commonly talked about subject. Discrimination towards women in the workplace would be giving the women with the same jo...

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...e eliminated, it isn’t useless to even attempt too. Prejudice affects both the people prejudiced against and the ones who are prejudice towards others. Nina Simone once said, “The worst thing about that kind of prejudice… is that while you feel hurt and angry and all the rest of it, it feeds you self-doubt. You start thinking, perhaps I am not good enough” (Simone). Everyone is good enough, and everyone will understand that once prejudice is eliminated or at least reduced.

Works Cited

Crichton, Michael. State of Fear: A Novel. New York, NY: Harper, 2013. Print.
Dogra, Aatha. “Prejudice Vs. Discrimination.” Buzzle. Buzzle.com, 07 June 2011. Web. 19 Apr.
2014.
Vedantam, Shankar. “What Does Modern Prejudice Look Like?” NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 19 Apr.
2014.
Rae, Lily. “Why I Love Nina Simone.” Bad Salad. N.p., 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

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