To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow.
- William Faulkner
- William Faulkner
Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism
Really, is this still an issue!?! Sadly, in the Inland Northwest it is. As recent as January of this year, hopeful members of a white supremacist group planted an explosive device on the route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Spokane, Washington. Fortunately, Spokane's bomb squad was able to detonate the bomb before it hurt or killed any innocent bystanders. For more information on this disturbing and potentially tragic event, check-out:
- http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fbi-pipe-bomb-found-spokane-washington-mlk-parade/story?id=12642275
I absolutely adore living in North Idaho but I am very troubled by the reputation we have stemming from a once thriving population of group referred to as "Arian Nations". The community of Coeur d'Alene has made a huge effort to remedy this reputation, the "Arian Nation" compound no longer exists and community member and officials have all stood together on various occasions to communicate that actions of prejudice and hate will not be tolerated. Sadly, that is what has put us on the map. In fact, I have friends that won't even come and visit.
Prejudice, discrimination, and racism all have a negative implication and the terms are used loosely by many. Sociologists further define and distinguish between the terms to understand race and ethnic relations. In the text, prejudice is defined as the evaluation of a social group and the individuals within it based on conceptions about the social group held despite the facts that are disproving them. Simply put prejudice is an attitude and virtually no one is free of prejudice. Discrimination on the other hand, is a behavior and is defined as an overt negative and unequal treatment of the members of some social group solely because of their membership in that group. Then there is racism, which takes many forms and includes both attitudes and behaviors and is defined in the text as the perception and treatment of a racial or ethnic group, or member of that group. For me, this is an issue that should not take the time of a sociologists beautiful mind, its 2011 and I believe that prejudice, discrimination, and racism should purely be a thing of the past. Negative actions against racial and ethnic groups should under no circumstance be tolerated.
Please enjoy this anti-discrimination video:
The following is a useful resource for preventing and addressing prejudice:
How does the United States rate? Check out the “Hate Crime Report Card: The United States”:
Below is an informative and disappointing article from the Washington Post about workplace
discrimination in American corportations:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/08/AR2005120802037_pf.html
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