Prejudice

and Discrimination

Project

Question One

Prejudice

Prejudice is defined as ‘thinking badly about other people without sufficient reasons’. The word ‘prejudice’ means to prejudge. This means that we judge before we know someone or before we even meet them.

Discrimination

Discrimination occurs when people are treated badly by others because off prejudice. Discrimination is not always a bad thing however. It can also be a ‘careful judgement’. For example if you are going to buy a new TV, it is a good idea to be discriminating, to look carefully, to choose something that you really like, rather than just the first thing you see.

Discrimination becomes unfair when it causes us to make a big deal out of differences between people so that it affects their housing, employment, education, lives - their human rights.

The Difference

The difference between these is that prejudice is that the judgement you make and discrimination is the action itself that follows this judgement.

Discrimination = Prejudice + Power.

Prejudice is the perception and discrimination is therefore perception followed by action.  Only the perception alone does not do any physical damage or hurt to the one being prejudiced against however the one discriminated against receives a physical treatment as well as treatment on the psychological sense when it is just a sense of prejudice.  

Question Two

An incident of discrimination involving colour:

Zaina Ukwaju, was one of the only two black people working at an immigration centre.

They were both unfairly dismissed, victimised and racially discriminated against. Ms Ukwaju, who was born in Tanzania but lives in London, was selected for redundancy when the Home Office announced plans to close the immigration centre in May 2006. But despite the proposals being put on hold, Ms Ukwaju and her colleague lost their jobs five months later.

It was alleged by Ms Ukwaja and Mr Obikwu that the council's operations manager Anne-Marie Leech was "consciously biased" when selecting members of staff to be made redundant. They pointed to the fact that no one who had attended a party at Ms Leech's home was made redundant as evidence. 

There is a very strong sense of prejudice in this case. Ms Ukwaju was treated appallingly because she was of a difference colour to the manager. She was biased in her decision choosing the members of staff to be made redundant. They were not treated fairly or equally because they were black and therefore not considered as important or as equal to the rest of the workforce.

An incident of discrimination involving minority-homosexuals

A gay  Heathrow security guard had his life made a misery by a woman colleague who pestered him for sex, an employment tribunal was told yesterday.

Allwyn Rondeau, 46, repeatedly told 42-year-old Lucy Chilton he was homosexual and not interested but she persisted, the panel heard.

He concealed his frustration because he did not want to highlight his gay lifestyle.


However, when she reported him for inappropriate sexual behaviour – a claim rejected after an investigation – he complained.

Mr Rondeau is suing his employers G4S Security Services – formerly Group 4 – and co- employees Lucy Chilton, Mark Palmer, Sonny Bhamber and Brian Johnson for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.

Mr Rondeau, who lives in Feltham, Middlesex, with his gay partner of 15 years, told the tribunal that he and Ms Chilton were on duty in a jet when she "stuck her bum in the air saying 'come on give it to me.'"

In other alleged incidents she “wobbled her breasts” against him, used the words “batty boy” and mocked him. The tribunal initially made an order banning identification of the parties but yesterday the judge decided everyone
should be named.

“Throughout I chose not to complain formally as I didn’t want to rock the boat,” he said.

The panel heard the toll of the investigation meant he had not returned for work since and suffered anxiety and depression.

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There is an obvious element of discrimination in this case as well as prejudice. He was taunted because of his sexual orientation and this is made clear by the fact that she acknowledged the fact he was gay by using derogatory terms to suggest this and she still continued to harass him to such an extent he was unable to attend work as he was so depressed.

An incident of discrimination involving religion:

A Muslim woman who returned to her job wearing a headscarf after a pilgrimage to Mecca was sacked after her foreman ...

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