Of Our Spiritual Strivings Analysis

Our country is one supposedly based on fairness and equality; all citizens being treated with equal fairness. This is not the truth. Prejudice and inequality can be found in all societies today. People are not treated unfairly by others and, in return, treat others with the same unfairness. Most people, however unaware they may be, have been guilty of some form of prejudice. “Men call the shadow prejudice, and learnedly explain it as the natural defense of culture against barbarism, learning against ignorance, purity against crime” (p. 296). Citizens in our country today are not all treated equally. In the work place, for example, mean are usually given more opportunity than women. Men have a better chance of getting a promotion because women are stereotyped as letting their emotions, not their professional opinion, aide them in their decision making. Also, people are given less opportunity when they do not meet certain “qualifications”. Some
In “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”, WEB Du Bois talks about his dealings with prejudice based on race, but race is not the only contributing factor of discrimination. Someone can be discriminated against for not only their national origin, but also for their gender, their religion, or even their sexual orientation. People who are homosexual, for example, are persecuted for their lifestyle and are not allowed to marry a person of their choice. “A people thus handicapped ought not to be asked to race with the world, but rather allowed to give all its time and thought to its own social problems” (p. 296). Prejudice comes from all different types of people. From the extremely religious person who does not believe the homosexual person should be allowed to marry another person of the same gender to an independently wealthy person who thinks poorly of the man who works hard every day at his minimum wage job, all types of people are guilty of being