Discussion Post
I. Importantly, prejudice is not prejudging. People can be prejudiced when knowing people from another group. Prejudice simply means hatred or dislike of an entire group of people. It is very important to understand this because often people who are prejudiced have a very hard time changing their mind and continue to have negative feelings even if they interact and get to know those in the group that they may dislike.
Class, what do you think are some of the steps that we could take as a society to reduce prejudice/ Do you think that there are some people who may never change prejudicial attitudes?
II. Yes, definitely we are not prejudiced when we are born nor do we care common prejudices. I always found it really interesting when my kids were small, they noticed differences among people and would happily call them out, your hair looks different, your skin looks different, etc. But ,while they openly discussed differences they saw, those differences meant nothing to them--they had not been socialized to have certain expectations about certain groups (stereotypical thinking). In other words, hey you look like this I look like that but who cares. It often makes me stop and think because as adults we are often careful to not call out difference or pretend like we don't notice it. Interestingly, a lot of research on prejudice actually says that if we admit to seeing differences and think about how that might affect how we interact with others, we actually do the most in society to reduce it.
Class, do you think that there is anyone in society who is completely free of prejudice or stereotypical thinking? Why might it be difficult to confront one's own biases? Do you think that this is an important step in improving inclusivity in our society?
The response should include a reference list. One-inch margins, Using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, double-space and APA style of writing and citations.