Do you know what we call an opinion when there isn’t any evidence to back it up? It’s referred to as prejudice. With prejudice, we cant see things that are, because we are seeing the things that aren’t. What is prejudice exactly? What kind of negativity can it spread? Last but not least, how do you combat prejudice? In this article we will discuss about “how much is it important the prejudice and why shouldn’t we have to count it?”.
What is Prejudice and does it count?
“Prejudice is a judgement or opinion about someone based solely on their membership in a particular group”.
When someone engages in prejudice, he is forming an opinion about someone before even getting to know them fully. This is irrational behaviour that demonstrates a lack of morality.
Negative feelings, stereotype beliefs, discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, or something else are some of these people’s common characteristics.
Types of Prejudice:
As discussed earlier, prejudice is a pre-judgemental statement and can be on any basis, which may be related to gender, religion, or any everyday practice. Prejudices may be for many different reasons. However, some of the most common types of prejudice are:
- Racism
- Agism
- Religion
- Homophobia
- Xenophobia
- Nationalism
- Sexism
- Classism
- Sects
Negative Impacts of Prejudice:
When people adopt a prejudiced attitude, they begin to believe on them that everyone who belongs to the same group shares the same traits and characteristics. Their perspective of each person as a distinct individual vanishes. As a result, feelings of hatred and dismay spread throughout the area.
What are your thoughts on this behaviour? Have you ever been the victim of prejudice or did you count it? What were your thoughts after that? It doesn’t feel good, to say the least.
Let’s look at an example to better understand this characteristic. Prejudiced behaviour towards black people has even resulted in rudeness towards them, low pay, and a lower employment rate.
Another example of prejudice is the anti-Muslim movement, which has led people in the West to regard every Muslim as a hateful and morally deficient person, treating them with contempt and assuming they are terrorists.
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These types of behaviour, when practised in our daily lives while commenting on someone’s colour, race, or even the clothes they’re wearing, can destroy someone’s confidence. Victims may also experience feelings of anxiety and depression. These types of attitudes are very negative for a person’s growth and for the destruction of others’ self-belief.
People who have been victims may become isolated and avoid interacting with others out of fear of being targeted again.
Why prejudice occurs?
Why does prejudice exist? There is no definitive answer. Essentially, it is human nature to think about situations and make assumptions, which is a good thing. Thinking is a natural ability that can not be taken away.
However, there are measures that can be taken to categorise things, colours, humans, and religion in various areas. When all of these categories are mixed up, it creates a huge mess that is difficult to control.
How to Fight Prejudice?
Have you ever shown prejudiced behaviour toward others without even realizing it? You might be confused about how it happened. But yes, most of us start showing prejudiced behaviour towards others without having the feeling that we are the cause of destroying someone’s confidence.
Start becoming aware of your natural tendency. Ask yourself, Am I getting biased? Am I judging this person on the wrong criteria?
Some of the tips can be: Imagine yourself in their “shoes”. This will help you to humanize and judge them in the right way.
Try to discover what prejudiced behaviour is actually. Knowing more about it will help you gain more knowledge about it. Furthermore, sit with people of different sects and discover their qualities, talk to them and clarify all the confusion you have in your mind.
Stop commenting and judging without knowing other perspectives. Avoid jumping to conclusions and be inclusive. Start implementing these principles and become a sign of change.
Prejudiced behaviour can erode a person’s self-esteem and confidence. As a result, try to avoid making any statements that could harm someone in some way. Also, learn how to respond if someone treats you badly.
It is well known that prejudices are the most difficult to eradicate from the heart of someone whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones. “Must Read: How to live a decent life?
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