Compare And Contrast

Deeba Davari
EWRT 1A
Professor Bonilla
7:30am
10 March 2015
Cause and Effect Essay Prejudice comes in many different forms and shapes; it doesn’t know color, race, or ethnicity. Everyone consciously or unconsciously takes into account how someone looks like, thinks like, and acts like. There are many factors that cause one to form prejudgments against other groups of people. To be accepted culturally and economically is a great weight lifted off but to be rejected from few or all subdivisions is tremendously vicious. Prejudice affects all areas of life; it begins in the home; in conjunction with values taught by families. It spreads like a disease, gradually becomes a way of living and everybody starts to become numb to the effects however the results are detrimental. For the most part, it creates violence and criminal activity along with anger and hatred. The history of prejudice nature is decorated with many names such as racism, segregation, or cultural diversities but no matter what is labeled, it causes pain and chaos to humanity. The effect of being narrow-minded causes hardship, fear, and untrustworthiness. Some might ask what causes such prejudice views and there are a few accurate answers as to why. There are many factors that cause one to form prejudgments against other groups of people. For this reason, a lot of times a person may judge based on false perceptions associated with a particular race or nationality. This type of ignorance leads to misunderstanding and inner conflicts without it being true. It could have been learned from family or friends how they look at things. For example, a high-class Caucasian family sees a few black men walking down their streets and they tend to stand guard and lean towards suspicious activity. The article “Black Men and Public Space” shows the persona of everyone’s boundaries and ideas of one another “To her, the youngish black man – a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket – seemed menacingly close. After a few more quick glimpses, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within seconds she disappeared into a cross street” (Staples 1). The idea of a white woman being afraid of a black man is one of the examples given in the article and in many situations it is always almost true. In many incidents people get frightened of certain ethnicity and that idea of a certain person is burned into their minds. No one has ever seen a black man being scared or weak from a white man. It is unfair to make assumptions that all groups from a variety of different backgrounds and walks of life share a common stereotypical characteristic. No child is born with prejudice views. Prejudice is considered a learned behavior through people's words and actions starting with family influences and followed by school and societal notions. A good example would be , at school, parents and students may assume Indian students earn the highest grades, which in fact may not be true. In addition, people learn to form opinions depending on their own insecurities and pain. Consequently, if one lacks self confidence, he or she tends to be more critical of others in order to feel better about him or herself. Another example is that there are many girls at high school and colleges who wear designer clothes and think they are better versus those who wear average cloths from Old Navy or such. It is wrong to assume those who do not dress to the nine is implication that they are poor or less confident; some people wear whatever they feel comfortable in. Being judged by what you wear is a common outlook in our society, which causes prejudice view in some individuals. Unfortunately the group that judge might never get the chance to get to know the other people because the way they are dressed and they might in fact miss the opportunity of getting to know the most confident people. The effects of prejudice views on a person can alter individual’s decision-making skills. Decision-making is always tough to do but when race and ethnicity comes into the picture it is even more difficult. Prejudgment outlooks can also affect how each person treats each other in the work environment. Some inferior people can chose not to hire a certain person based on their race; if Mexican, they must be a lazy worker or if black, they must steal from us. One can easily see how wrong this judgment is based on the fact that the president of the United States of America, one of the most powerful countries in the world is an African American man and his wife is a lawyer. However we can also easily see that he is having a hard time leading the country because he is African American and he is dealing with many issues that deals with racism and his decisions making in the White house because of his color of skin. Another effect includes losing valuable relationships even at the point of making enemies without exploring opportunities to develop lasting friendships. A bias point of view is a synonym to being prejudice; meaning people can have their beliefs on some subjects. Skin color, race, nationality, gender, and physical traits: none of these elements should be reasons to discriminate against another when in fact they can become your best friend if given a fair chance. In the book Flight, it’s a good example of how the character Zit would live different lives and experience the prejudice based on different time period and how cultures and races and times play a major roles . It did not matter where he went and what life he lived he would experience prejudice (Alexie 27) Zit says,” But I don’t think I’m racist. I measure men by content of their character, not their color of their skin, and I find all of them assholes.” It did not matter what life he lived he would experience inequality and no matter he was white, Irish, or Indian he witnessed cruelty based on the color of skin or the race, or the nationality. Even Zit’s psychiatrist told him “you dream about killing and eating black guys because, in American society black men are the metaphoric embodiment of rage and fear and pain. Zit does have inflicted pain from black people or sometimes white people but he realizes he needs to trust people more. Regardless of a person’s true personality and lifestyle people will point out the flaws with who they are on the outside. It might start with one individual, one family, one group but it gradually can lead to the whole nation and divide people and treat each other unfairly. A leader who advances a certain group of people over other group because of his limited view can affect a whole nation. As a result a leader becomes strongly intolerant of others and can destroy and wipeout a whole nation. Hitler killed millions of Jewish people because he believed that Germans were considered more advanced race of people and all others were inferior. A crime no one can believe it can happen, how can one person wipe out millions of Jewish people? It is scary to think it can start with one thought, one individual, and later in one nation. Not only can people be racist but they can be stereotypical with religion also “Maybe you were at a party, chatting with a small group, when suddenly one of them says, 'Well, you know how those Jews are, they're all alike”(Weir 1). If an individual were to be a Jewish man or woman of course they would have money and be greedy or if Muslim, they must be a terrorist with a bomb. Some individuals may not comment on certain ideas about religion because it is a touchy subject but a lot of people will criticize any and every religious person and give them a stereotype. If you are not for all people, you are against them. The world is a better place if everybody was accepted and loved rather than demeaned and put down for their differences. Belonging to a world that functions with love and compassion is much more ideal rather than a world filled with hate and prejudice. Prejudice is something that affects everyone one time or another and it leaves society with negativity. These stereotypes cause divisions in society and push unfair judgments on people. It is unfair but it is human nature to show prejudice towards someone who is not like you. One always wants to be better than others; prejudice serves that purpose. The History of the prejudice nature is decorated with many names such as racism segregation, or cultural diversities but no matter what is labeled, it causes pain and chaos to humanity. Until we fix this insecurity in ourselves, we cannot help the society. It all starts with us, to know the face of prejudice and find out the causes and see the devastation it can create. In a world without hate and discrimination would be a world filled with peace.

Work cited
Alexie, Sherman. Flight: A Novel. New York: Black Cat :, 2007. Print. (Book)

Staples, Brent. "Black Men and Public Space." Web. <phil.washington.edu>. (Reading)

Weir, Bob. "Nature Pf Prejudice." 3 Sept. 2006. Web. <http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2006/09/the_nature_of_prejudice.html Bob Weir, 2006, The Nature of Prejudice>.