Mired in prejudice

Apr 30, 2009 Editorial

Very few would deny that we are a conflicted society: the evidence in our daily newspapers and newscasts are too overwhelming. There are, of course, legions of reasons as to why this may be so and there is no shortage of theories from the comparable number of fields and sub-fields into which we have splintered our study of the human condition.
A practical theory, however, ought to offer us not only some insight into possible causes of conflicts but also suggest ways by which we may reduce those disagreements. “Prejudice” in humans is one of those theories.

We say “humans” because, evidently, prejudice is found in all societies; in all of us. Many of our prejudices are fairly of little impact, socially, for instance, the prejudice against alcohol and those who consume it.
On the other hand ethnic, racial and religious prejudices have become a bane of modern societies, ours included. But whatever the social impact, we hold on to our prejudices intensely.

One of the best definitions of prejudice was offered several decades ago: “aversive or hostile attitude toward a person who belongs to a group, simply because he belongs to that group, and is therefore presumed to have the objectionable qualities ascribed to that group.”
While there is a certain amount of irrationality inherent in all prejudices, this may be due to one of its major precipitants – fear. Fear invariably generates irrational responses.

The fears are generated from several different types of perceived threats: the expectation that the “other” will do one harm; the perception that the different worldview of the other will create challenges to one’s own; the presumption that interaction will lead to embarrassment, rejection, or ridicule; and the generation of fear of negative consequences as a result of negative stereotypes.
Since most of these fears are arise out of our internal assessment of external factors, knowledge of those externals is key to understanding prejudices. It would appear that we all have a fear of the unknown, a fear of the unfamiliar.

It has been truly said that if fear is the father of prejudice, ignorance is its grandfather. A prejudice can be thought of as a negative judgment that has been arrived at without a full examination of all the facts. In other words, it is a value judgment that we easily make based on half-facts and half-truths with a mind that is pre-conditioned to readily accept such a judgment.
Put differently, we are emotionally predisposed to arrive at certain conclusions and seek out “facts” to support these conclusions.

These conclusions are condensed early on in our childhood as stereotypes which colour our attitude to “other” persons and things. Because of the multitudinous amount of information we are forced to process in our lives, the formation of stereotypes is an inevitable process.
This would not be so problematical but unfortunately, prejudice is not simply an attitude that remains internal to its owner; it impacts behaviour.

When negative attitudes on the basis of differences translate into behaviour, we have, as a result, discrimination and the social inequity it produces. Therefore, efforts to reduce prejudice are well advised to take the social context into consideration when focusing on the individuals’ attitudes.
One of the most effective measures to reduce prejudice is to remove ignorance about the “other” and this can sometimes be effected through increased contacts between groups that share negative stereotypes of each other.

In Guyana, the schools form one of the most important points of contact – especially in the crucial age category in which stereotypes are hardened. In the government’s commendable exponential expansion of housing schemes, it has worked hard to ensure that the populations are from all the ethnic groups in our society.

Care, however, has to be taken to ensure that the lessons from past experience are not ignored. Most important is that the contact must be positive: i.e. the groups must be relatively equal, have common goals and not compete against each other. To proceed otherwise would be simply to harden prejudices and stereotypes.

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Mired in prejudice

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