Race and Prejudice

Prejudice I think it affects everyone, even if it occurs at a subconscious level. I will be the first to admit that I am prejudice: I judge people daily by how they dress, talk, and look. Prejudice has a heavy psychological impact on the ones to whom it is directed at; it shows the ignorance of the person displaying the prejudice; and yes, I believe prejudice can be lessened, but I it will never be eliminated. There is no reason for us to judge people based on their looks, they didn’t get to choose to whom they were born. Yet so many times I find myself doing this, everyone does, even if they don’t admit it. Prejudice can have a wide range of implications on the person to whom it is directed at. I believe that lots of times we don’t see these effects immediately, but they show up later on in the person’s life. An example of this would be a black person who grows up in an all white community. Throughout his life, he is made fun of because he acts “white” ( he tries hard in school, gets good grades, is smart). This kid could always feel alone, because his black friends disown him for acting white, and his white friends are subconsciously prejudice against him simply because he is black. This is a tough situation, and is extremely true in the lives of a lot of kids. Not to pick on black people or anything, but I heard a report some time ago that only 2% of black kids make it out of the “hood”. It is extremely hard for them to overcome everyone making fun of them because they don’t conform to being a “gangster”. The person displaying the prejudice shows the ignorance of that person. Most kids get their prejudice roots from their parents at a very young age; it can come from a ton of different situations where the parent makes a comment, joke, etc, about a certain group. It also can come from the environment, in which the child grows up, and different situations that the child is involved in or witnesses. That being said, it is not an excuse for the person to be racist against the entire group, be it ethnic, social, or any other grouping. Ayn Rand says: “A genius is a genius, regardless of the number of morons who belong to the same race – and a moron is a moron, regardless of the number of geniuses who share his racial origin.” I strongly agree with this statement: we must judge only on a person’s productive ability. This is hard to do, but when it comes down to it, the only thing that matters is a person’s ability and how well he can work. In conclusion, there is no way that prejudice will ever be abolished in any society; it is futile to even try. As you can see from the previous paragraphs: prejudice has a dramatic impact on a person’s complex. Prejudice only shows the ignorance of the one who is displaying it, and prejudice can be lessened, but will never be absolutely destroyed.