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A continuum of Social Relationships among Human Groups:
HOSTILE Prejudice: A Definition Let's look at the stages of hostile relationships--starting with "predilection." Predilection simply means that someone prefers one culture, one skin color, or one language as opposed to another. If you like Mexican culture and I do not, there is no use arguing about taste. We may disagree on such matters, but, as a rule, we respect one another's choice. Predilections are natural. But they are the first step toward scapegoating if they turn into more active biases, that is to say into-- Prejudice. A prejudice is an attitude in a closed mind. ("Don't bother me with facts, I've already made up my mind.") Some Europeans may think that all Americans are loudmouth spendthrifts. This stereotyped view is hard to change. It is a prejudice. An Oxford student is said to have remarked, "I despise all Americans, but I've never met one I didn't like." This anecdote suggests that prejudgements may stand even when available evidence is against them. Some people with prejudices may think that blacks have rhythm, that Scotsmen are thrifty or that a woman's place is in the home. Prejudice, if kept to oneself, causes no great harm except to the mind that possesses it. But prejudice leads to-- Discrimination. That means leaving somebody out because of prejudiced thinking. Generally it is based not on an individual's instrinsic qualities but on a "label" branding the individual as a member of a group to be looked down upon. It means separating a group forcible and unjustly from our neighborhoods, our schools, our churches, our labor unions and our professions. Scapegoating is hostile behavior by word or deed. The victim usually cannot fight back, for scapegoats are usually members of vulnerable minority groups. (Adapted from Gordon Allport, ABC's of Scapegoating. New York: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.)
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| ©1998-2009 Sherryl Stalinski |