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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
7:58 PM
"Prejudice is a disease we can never get rid of." Discuss.
I agree with the statement. [1]Prejudice is a preconceived opinion or feeling, often unfavourable. It is compared to a form of disease as the latter is harmful, depraved, and morbid condition, as of the mind or society.
Prejudice takes in many forms, such as racial discrimination and gender discrimination. It is often difficult to eradicate as it is constantly present in everyday life, such as the problem of racial discrimination or homosexuality discrimination. Preconceived opinion formed in the mind are often undetected if the person does not voice it or portray it out.
[2]Devah Pager, a sociologist at Northwestern University, studied employers' treatment of job applicants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. One example of racial discrimination, as focused upon by the sociologist, is that whites without a criminal record were most likely to be invited back (34%) and blacks with a criminal record were the least likely (5%). The study found that only 14% of blacks without a criminal record were called back for an interview—less than the 17% of whites that did have a criminal record.
However, this study was only done in a city and not world wide. But we cannot eliminate the fact that prejudice, in the form of racial discrimination, still exists sub-consciously, such as the example given above. Hence, in conclusion, even if we cannot eradicate prejudice completely, we should still make an effort to make sure we do not make unnecessary preconceived opinions.
[1] http://dictionary.reference.com
[2] http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_archive
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