Racism "Why Is It So Easy to Essay

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Racism

"Why is it so easy to develop and then retain racial prejudices?" How can we break this "mold"?

Racial prejudices are formed easily because they are learned cognitive patterns. One develops racial prejudices just as one learns a language or learns how to ride a bicycle. Just as it is difficult to "unlearn" a skill, it can also be difficult to "unlearn" racism. However, it is possible to break the "mold" of racism by refusing to engage the racist mind, refusing to engage racist discourse, recognizing when racism exists, and teaching the future generation about love and respect.

As Nittle (n.d.) points out, most types of racial prejudice arise from "race-based stereotypes." Stereotypes are cognitive categories or structures. In many ways, stereotypes help human beings organize an otherwise overwhelmingly complex world. Thus, we group similar things into clusters or categories. All ducks and penguins fall into the bird category.

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The problem with racial stereotyping is that race is not real; it is a social construct that people have been programmed to believe in. Science has repeatedly disproven the notion that race is real, because features like hair color and skin are "superficial," and "all members of the species Homo sapiens have more characteristics in common than different," ("Racial Prejudice," n.d.). Racial prejudice is therefore based on false beliefs and false concepts. Unfortunately, it becomes easy to develop racial prejudices because children learn them from their elders, including parents and teachers, as well as from the media and other means by which social norms can be disseminated. It is impossible for a child to not develop a belief system influenced by his or her culture and surroundings.

Unfortunately also, racial prejudice is easy to retain because the culture reinforces it and normalizes it. ".....

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