As well as that Anti-Semitism — Europe's oldest hatred continues to be influential and has been shown to be, as a Runnymede Trust report pointed out in the 1990s, 'a very light sleeper'. As is also the case with Islamophobia, it is frequently exacerbated in Britain by events and underlying conflicts elsewhere in the world, particularly the Middle East. In addition, Anti-Traveller prejudice — it was pointed out that prejudice towards Gypsy and Traveller people continues to be 'respectable' in many quarters and that it is a significant factor affecting the lives and life-chances of children and young people who are targeted by it. A further negative consequence is that the task of winning the trust of children and young people of Gypsy and Traveller backgrounds is rendered even more difficult and sensitive. Also, Islamophobia — Islamophobia is not necessarily to do with hostility to Islamic religious beliefs, but with denying equal rights and respect to people of Islamic heritage.
Prejudice and discrimination affects the world in many ways in modern society today but it also had a powerful effect in history. In the midst of one of the largest and most costly battles in the history of the world, World War II, Jews, and other minority groups, are scared. The dictator of the powerful Nazi regime, Adolph Hitler, has expressed his views on society, particularly that which is living in Germany. The Germanic man with blue eyes, blond hair, and fair skin is the master. He is superior. The Aryan race shall dominate over all. And in these thoughts develop the idea that to achieve this superiority, one of the things that ought to be done is eliminate all those whom are inferior. In 1942, a plan to forcefully emigrate all German Jews to the island nation of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, was developed, but plans for this were halted, and thus the Final Solution was developed: the massive, systematic extermination of all Jews and other social or human groups within the country whom the Nazi regime and Hitler thought were inferior to the Aryan race. This is a point in history when discrimination and prejudice did their worst.
The murder of six million human beings, for no apparent reason other than the fact that they were not of a specific race or ethnicity and did not have the so called ‘perfect German man’ characteristics These Jewish folk did nothing to the Nazis; they did not fight against them, protest or speak out against them, nothing! Their sudden deaths were brought on only by prejudice that they were weak and inferior, and as a result of this, discrimination against them as a social group. It was one of the biggest mistakes in history – to have murdered six million humans whom, had they been fed regularly and allowed to live and prosper, may have contributed ever so much to the world today.
Among other examples of discrimination and prejudice’s effect upon the world, another major one is the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, a time period during which blacks were severely discriminated against and hated by the white man. Of course, manifestations of this particular discrimination go back as long as 700 years ago, to the days of slavery. During both the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the Nazi regime many were killed and tortured and were forced to work till death called them. In both of the events segregation occurred in society due to their ethnic and racial differences.
Prejudice and discrimination are harmful behaviours that limit the opportunities of certain groups of people by reducing or withholding access to people defined as inferior and by increasing or extending access to people defined as superior. The benefits of prejudice and discrimination are: approval and popularity, rights and privileges, power, knowledge, employment and promotion. Prejudice and discrimination also leave people open to a variety of social risks including: victimization (violence, abuse, theft and bullying), suspicion (blame or assumed guilt for crimes and harmful actions), rejection, alienation and isolation (which all can lead to low self-esteem, self-hatred and self-destruction), exploitation and oppression
One of the worst things about prejudices is that over time people may come to believe what they hear and may start to believe that they are superior/inferior. This can lead to: emotional suffering reduced self-esteem, sense of futility or lack of control, blaming victims, losing hope in the future, fear/mistrust of others and lack of respect for authority.
I believe, in this world, manifestations of discrimination and prejudice is not as severe as they may have been in the past. But we haven’t the need for a massive killing spree to remind us that the problems still exist, and that the problems still have their negative effects. As of late, many parts of the world have perhaps “matured” and learned to peacefully appreciate differences in people. But there is a small group, with hope, one that is constantly shrinking, that still discriminates against blacks, that still holds hate against the Americans that still holds superiority over the Jews – both these problems have not ceased to exist.
Some concrete examples from the 21st Century – women, even in the land of the free and the land of the equally created, are still not paid as much as men. It is a sexist form of discrimination and prejudice that attempts, perhaps, to maintain women away from the work force. Be it based on whatever it may be based, it is unfair to reward one gender more than another for their equally hard work. Also, several people still are hostile or precautious of being with people of a different skin tone, religion, or country. They, perhaps, have not matured enough to appreciate that all people are humans, no matter what. Arguments against this belief are usually in regard to the actions that discriminated groups have committed in the past – the gypsies, whom have always been accused of continuous theft and trickery. Perhaps – but any human can commit a wrongdoing, then that human is simply a bad human and not a positive contributor to society – but a that is a human nonetheless. Let us become equal in all aspects, in all areas, in every corner in the world.
We have to ensure that “Hey, mate” and “Bonjour” both mean a greeting. It is our duty to make sure that they don’t mean discrimination and prejudice. The more prejudice and discrimination we try and stop in our society the better it will be for our coming generations. Lots of different people and races suffered so much hurt and pain thorough out history as they were victimised of prejudice and discrimination; they must have felt so sad, not only sadness, but anger, rage and extremely frightened. Wondering why they were singled out and feeling completely degraded, discriminated against, persecuted, targeted, and intimidated. Prejudice and discrimination is not a pleasant thing it is disgusting and should not even exist. The reason I feel this way is because people have gone through so many things due to prejudice and discrimination. Also, I feel this way because considering some of the very famous events in history that have happened such as Mahatma Gandhi being pushed off a train in south Africa for being Indian and sitting in first class; he must have felt angry and targeted. It is not a nice situation to be in and it is not nice to a victim of prejudice and discrimination. If we prejudice or discriminate against something or someone or support someone it may happen to you one day ‘back what goes round comes around’.
Consider humans to be as different as an apple and a pear. They are both fruits, but they taste differently, they are of different colours, etc. Thus, in a sense, not all humans are truly created equally. But that does not mean that any group of similar humans is superior over another, because we are all people. We are all inhabitants of this Earth, and debating over who is superior and who is inferior is a waste of time. We may have differences, but we are all human, and no one human is better than the next, especially because the first is white and the second is black, or because the first is German and the second is American.
There are many ways that we can help reduce prejudice and discrimination. Here are just a few suggestions: refuse to laugh at racist or sexist jokes, refuse to be allowed to jump ahead in a line-up and point out that people who have been waiting longer have a right to be served first, refuse to see movies, read books, play video games or participate in actives that promote violence or discrimination against certain groups ,confront our friends or peers who express prejudiced or discriminatory beliefs ,support associations or organizations whose mission is to help address the roots or effects of prejudice ,confront prejudice in schools by working with a diverse group of people and confront prejudice at work by refusing to work in an environment that supports discriminatory policies or practices.
The world would be a totally different place if prejudice and discrimination did not exist, it would mean that groups like al Qaeda would not exist and we wouldn’t judge people because of their religion or race. As well as that, we wouldn’t have had events in history to learn from and research on but also this means that if we did not have the holocaust maybe we would have had some very talented people and leaders in history. I believe the world has not learnt its lesson if it had the world would be totally different and we would not have so many race based gangs and communists such as the British National Party who believe only whites should be in Britain and no one else. Therefore, In conclusion, I believe that prejudice is the source of the world’s problems because many other bad influences come of it. I think prejudice and discrimination is like the tree trunk and the leaves and branches are things like violence, abuse, theft and bullying. I can try and stop prejudice and discrimination by doing little things like not laughing or making fun of someone because they are different or do something differently to me and stopping someone doing it because then the victim is unlikely to do it to someone else in anger that someone did it to them. Therefore, prejudice is the source of the worlds problems.
