The Language of Prejudice and Historical Perspective

Being Prejudice means that you are discriminating against another race or group of people. Discrimination is an awful thing that has been around since the beginning of time. It can be a dangerous thing because it can cause problems for example Hitler discriminating against the Jews and getting millions of people to hate them. I don’t think discrimination will be gone completely but there are some ways for it to be slowed down and/or reduced.

Prejudice is when we have a preconceived opinion about someone or a group of people that is formed without knowledge, or even a real understanding about them.

Allport, Gordon. “The Language of Prejudice.” Language Awareness. Ed. Paul Eschholz. Alfred Rosa. Virginia Clark. Boston: Bedford St. Martin, 2013. 324-333. Print.

“The unemployment rate among blacks is about double among whites, as it has been for more than six decades” (Desilver). Some say that prejudice can still be seen in the modern world today. Prejudice is when a negative assumption is made about a person because they have a different opinion, race, or religion than others. In the modern world many people still have negative viewpoints towards people with no reasoning. Prejudice are not only seen today but also seen in 1933 in Maycomb, Alabama.

The Europeans regarded Hutu and Twa (about 3% of the population) as inferior to Tutsi. Sixty years of such prejudicial fabrications inflated Tutsi egos inordinately and crushed Hutu feelings, which coalesced into an aggressively resentful inferiority complex.”

In this modern world, prejudice is still a universal problem we still have yet to overcome. Although it is true that our society is much less prejudiced than it was 40-50 years ago, we are still struggling to create racial harmony in a world that is so diverse in terms of racial group, sexual orientations, ethnicity, nationality, religions, and so on. I think the core of prejudice comes from stereotyping, which is the generalization of motives, characteristics, or behavior to an entire group of people. In the world where media propaganda is ubiquitous, often times most stereotypes are not formed on valid experiences, instead they are based on images publicized by the mass media, or even created within our heads after seeing and hearing examples from many different sources, like movies, or even hearsay. Stereotyping is more powerful than we think, because it allows those false pictures to control our thinking that leads us to assign uniform characteristics to any person in a group, without consideration of the actual difference between members of that particular group.

In the 1900s, two large massacres occurred in different parts of the world leading the events to be known as genocides. A genocide took place in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The events that took place in both countries lead to massive death for both the victimized and the oppressors. This essay focuses on Yugoslavia from 1991 – 2001 and Rwanda from April to May 1994. Although ethnic entrepreneurs influence society in both countries on the base of cultural for political gain, ordinary citizens carry out mass killing of their fellow countrymen and women. Ordinary citizens found cultural and political reason influential due to the lack of national identity and unity.

In 1885, European superpowers got together to divide up the continent of Africa for the colonization of the countries. Among them, Belgium had received the country of Rwanda. The practice of colonialism was common during the time period as European nations feigned to extract natural resources from African countries which were seen as gold mines. Being outnumbered, the Belgians knew they would have to find ways to maintain power in Rwanda. In doing so, they implemented this by dividing the indigenous people of Rwanda through the means of hegemonic racism. Those with dark skin, wide noses, and short were labeled as Hutus, while those who fit the European ideal of beauty with a lighter skin tone, tall, and smaller noses were labeled as Tutsis. While Belgium held power over Rwanda, they deemed the Tutsis as the superior race despite them being the minority race and gave them positions of power over the Hutus. However, on November 1959 the Hutus formed a rebellion and gained independence from Belgium. The dynamics of the hierarchy of privilege quickly changed as the Hutus were on the top and the Tutsis became the oppressed and many fled the country. Although the dreadful reign of colonialism was over, it’s everlasting effects still haunted the country of Rwanda, which is prevalent in the film Hotel Rwanda that depicts the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. In the film Hotel Rwanda, social stratification, racism, and gift giving are heavily prevalent.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is the book which gives us the perfect view of prejudices that were present in the South of the USA at the beginning of 20th century. What interests us the most is whether these prejudices managed to find their place in today’s world.

Ethnicity has played a major role in the country since it was a kingdom in the 1800’s. During those times it did not pose much of a threat, the Hutu farmers and the Tutsi herders lived integrated lives. Both shared a place in government, lived together, and bore children together. This way of life was radically changed during the colonial era. Since the Europeans required delineation between superior and inferior people in order to impose indirect rule in their colony, segregation arose between the two peoples. Begun under German rule, but intensified by the Belgians, lineation lead to dislike and distrust between the people. This dislike and distrust lent itself to hatred after many laws were put onto the Hutu, eventually removing all capacity to have any power within the kingdom they once had influence in. This constant abuse formed during colonial rule caused a divide between the Hutu and Tutsi, which eventually caused the majority to rise against the minority, and eventually try and wipe them out for good during the genocide of 1994. The impacts of these events are still very present today, but progress is being done to bring trust back between the Hutu and the

Prejudice is how some people make the assumption of a few people. This is just like the old saying ,“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”, which means that you should not judge something by it’s cover. I think that you shouldn't judge a book by it’s cover or use prejudice.Prejudice is,like stereotypes, putting people or things are put into a category, and could be from race, gender, religion or things like that. The bathroom law that is very controversial which means that you have to use the bathroom that your gender is. Another is the travel ban from the five countries which was put in place by President Trump to reduce the threat from terrorists from 7 mostly Muslims countries. The ban also meant that

If one group looks at themselves as different from another, it becomes easier to dehumanize a group to the point of if they are communally seen as other. Furthermore, justification for marginalization is all the much more potent when one considers a group of people to be truly otherized in nature. This is evident in the Rwandan situation when one examines their history. Briefly, the role colonization played in the stratification of the Rwandan society, plus the role elites play in spreading propaganda meant to otherize the Tutsi cannot be down played if one wants to understand the Rwandan genocide. Colonization established historical ties in the society that were inherently stratifying in nature. This established the historical precedent needed to allow the Hutu and the Tutsi to view themselves as some varying degree of binary opposites. This large degree of otherization in combination with historical precedent allowed for the Hutu to solidify as a group and to call for “Hutu Power.” This is where the ties to the epiphenomenal begin. Elites utilized this ethnic tension to spur the violence onward. Elite’s rhetoric regarding the Tutsi is also noteworthy. If one looks at the usage of elite rhetoric and the coercive pressure

American History X is a great film that portrays prejudice, stereotyping and conformity. Prejudice is negative attitudes toward others based on their gender, religion, race, or membership in a particular group. Prejudice involves beliefs and emotions that can turn into hatred. Having an opinion or idea about a member of a group without really knowing that individual is a part of prejudice. Some people make judgments about a whole group of people without knowing very much about them. Sometimes people are afraid of those who seem different from them and unfortunately, they express that with name-calling and negative treatment. When people grow up with these ideas, sometimes it's hard to get rid of them. Like in the

During the year 1994, Rwanda had two groups of people: Tutsi and Hutu. As explained in the beginning portion of the film, the Tutsi were people selected by the Belgians who were tall, light skinned with thin long noses. That being said, many thought the Tutsi were superior over the Hutu. Each citizen of Rwanda carried an Identification Card that specified the ethnic group they belonged to. Over the years, the tensions between the Tutsi and Hutu people elevated to a degree where the plane of the Rwandan president was shot down. The Tutsi people were blamed for such an egregious act, which evidently led to the divisiveness of the society and moreover massive genocides of the Tutsi people

In any society, how we see ourselves and how others treat us depends on many factors. Race, ethnicity, and cultural background are identifiers of individuals. Most people have confronted prejudice based on these identifiers, either personally experiencing discrimination or knowing someone who has. Beyond ensuring organizational compliance with a country’s anti-discrimination laws, it is incumbent upon managers to support diversity in the workplace and to be culturally competent.