Prejudice Essay, Research Paper

Chan got the highest mark in our Science class , Yeah well, he is Chinese . When a person hears the word prejudice, he or she might think it only refers to the racial prejudice often found between those with light skin and those with dark skin. However, prejudice runs much deeper than a person’s color. Prejudice is found between gender, religion, cultural and geographical background, and race. People have discriminated against others based upon these qualities from the beginning of time. Prejudice has become a very complicated problem in our society today and much of our world’s history is based upon such hatred. For example if you take Hitler and his men, they killed over five million people because, they were Jewish or were not their definition of “normal.” Our society is puzzled with such hatred based upon peoples beliefs and origins and it seems millions are fighting each other for no relevant reason at all.

I do believe that we can greatly reduce the amount of prejudice in our world today, yet I do not think that it will ever completely go away. Society has seemingly come to except all races, religions, and genders, and supposedly has achieved “political correctness,” yet. There will always be individuals who discriminate people based upon these issues. These individuals often form large groups that enlist new members to enforce their hatred of those with a certain religion or skin tone. Obviously, no one can tell these people that they cannot have their own opinions or believes, for they have the right to hate whomever they like. However, I believe we need to raise our children to accept all people, no matter what god, they do or do not believe in or what color skin they may have. If children are raised around people who are not the same as they are, then they will most likely not think anything different of people who do not look the same as them or believe what they believe. If we raise our children to believe all people are equal from the start, then prejudice will slowly disintegrate over time.

We, as the human race, need to focus on not judging people before we know them for who they are. Today, there are so many different people in this world that stereotypes are almost always incorrect, as many people choose not to be followers, but to be individuals. I know many white people who, if they see a young black male standing on the corner, wearing a certain type of clothing, will discern that he is in a gang and has intentions of hurting others. How could someone say such a thing when all they have seen is one’s appearance? The boy standing there could be a great student in school who helps others and plans to become someone important in the future. After all, personalities do not lie on the outside of one’s body, but in one’s mind.

If everyone in this world had respect for one another, we would live in peace and be able to let others believe in what they wish and accept that everyone is different. I believe it all comes down to parents teaching their children right from wrong in our world and raising them in an environment that is centered around acceptance of different ways of life and cultures of people. If we all teach our children and change our ways, sometime in our future we will be closer to accepting that a man’s character is based upon the content of his soul, not his religion, gender, ethnicity, or the color of his skin.