Prejudice

Coming into this course I never thought I would be so intrigued in learning about the things that go on in the world that I live in. So far with this readings I believe that this generation has developed a hatred for new and unknown things in life. Our generation is afraid of things they do not have a description for. I feel like this is what drives racism in today’s society. The fear of what we do not know. Seeing a man of color down the street, then crossing the street because you’re afraid of your perception of this man. He could easily be a man with a great personality but you were afraid of what you thought of him. Acts like these is what ruins our generation, this is what drives people to think it is okay to cast out the people who are different then them. We need to notice that our generation is messed up, and we need everyone to contribute to the change we need to make for generations after us. Making a difference in one small community will have no effect on what’s going on in our world. Our culture is unaccepting of things that are unordinary. Seeing someone on the street and not being able to automatically point out their gender is something that is unordinary and that person will be pushed out. Which is why I believe all problems in the world root back to the fear of difference.

As people in the United States everyone is assigned to a category. Sad to say, but true. These categories demoralize us as humans. As James Baldwin said “ a black woman in Africa, therefore who has not experienced white racism, does not think of herself as black or experience herself as black, nor do the people around her. African, yes. A woman, yes. But not a black woman.” By these he meant to say that when she came to the United States, she was categorized by her race and is now a black woman. Just like a Norwegian man from Norway. When he comes to the United States what he learns is that he white and the privilege that comes along with being a white man in the United States. Understanding his privileges he will now be glad to attach it to his identity. Both scenarios are the same with the woman from Africa and the man from Norway, however, because of the privileges our culture has given to different races. The lives of these two people will be completely different. Privilege and difference cause major problems in our culture and if we don’t do something about it, nothing will ever change.