Where does prejudice come from?
An age old question, don’t you think.
I’d say it often arises from a lack of understanding, stereotyping, jumping to conclusions, fear of something different, insecurities about one’s self…
Am I getting warm?
It is frequently taught, picked up, learned, and absorbed.
A whole variety of influences can contribute to the formation of intolerant, prejudiced attitudes like that from parents, siblings, cousins, and other relatives as well as that from friends, schoolmates, co-workers, political leaders, religious figures, and so on.
Prejudices can be blunt or be quite subtle and easy to miss. Many people harbor them without fully recognizing that some of the ideas they are clinging to really are intolerant. And other times, it’s more that they don’t want to admit it. But either way, the prejudices are there, lurking.
Everyone should take a good, honest, hard look at themselves from time to time to see if they are harboring prejudiced feelings and attitudes. Find ways to make improvements and learn to better open their hearts and minds.
For doing so will improve not just other people’s lives, but also their own.
Views and Observations 