understanding prejudice and discrimination

To a certain degree we are all prejudiced . Every time a person forms an opinion based on a cursory glance or forms a stereotype about an entire group of people based on the actions of one person that is called prejudice . Forming these opinions or generalizations seems like an innate function , since we all have the need to classify our world However , many of the stereotypes we form are just wrong because they are not based on any firsthand knowledge . For example , if we are walking through a park late at night and

encounter three senior citizens wearing fur coats and walking with canes , we may not feel as threatened as if we were met by three high school-aged boys wearing leather jackets (remember .org

Stereotypes can serve many purposes . In to communicate with others we must have some idea of what others are like stereotyping can aid in this process . They allow us to put other people in categories and make inferences about them based on these categories . However , once a stereotype is formed , it can be hard to change , and this is where the problems come in . We learn stereotypes from many different places They can be learned from experiences we have had ourselves , read about in books and magazines , seen in movies or television , or have had related to us by friends and family (remember .org . Mostly though stereotypes harm us and contribute to institutionalized racism

Institutional racism is a form of racism which is structured into political and social institutions . It occurs when institutions including corporations , governments and universities , discriminate either deliberately or indirectly , against certain groups of people to limit their rights . Race-based discrimination in housing , education employment and health for example are forms of institutional racism . It reflects the cultural assumptions of the dominant group , so that the practices of that group are seen as the norm to which other cultural practices should conform (institutionalracism . In other words institutionalized racism is when we use our prejudices and stereotypes to discriminate against others . By not opening our minds and changing our attitudes , we allow institutionalized racism to continue

The biggest challenge with institutionalized racism is that it is almost impossible to see and prove . For example , the landlord who conveniently says to the black man that the apartment has already been rented and then turns around and allows a white man to come look at it and rent it is guilty of institutionalized racism . The landlord can say it had nothing to do with race , that he was concerned about his property value or the reactions of others . It is racism theless . The company who doesn 't want to hire a minority because this minority would not fit well with their clients or other employees is guilty of institutionalized racism . By universities providing special privileges to those whose grandfathers attended the university , they are perpetrating institutionalized racism . Many universities would not allow minority students in college that long ago , and so the only people...