CHAPTER FIVE Justice and Prejudice

Go Worship With Your “Own” People We are called to treat all people with respect and as if they were our sisters or brothers. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always occur. Take Mohandas Gandhi, for example. Gandhi, a Hindu, was interested in the Christian church and was discriminated against when he tried to enter the sanctuary in a Christian church. He was told to go worship with his “own” people.

Real-Life Prejudice According to Tolerance.org: Did you know... According to Tolerance.org: Every hour someone commits a hate crime Every day at least 8 blacks, 3 whites, 3 gays, 3 Jews, and 1 Latino become hate crime victims Every week a cross is burned

Real-Life Prejudice What is Prejudice? 1. Favorable or unfavorable feeling toward a person, place, or thing, prior to, or not based on, actual fact 2. A prejudgment based on insufficient data

Real-Life Prejudice Why? Threatens the rights of people Illogical, exhibits stereotypical thinking At fault when it resists new information Did you Know... Negative prejudice is sinful. Why? Stereotypes: types of prejudice that are oversimplified generalizations about some aspect of reality

Stages of Prejudice Extermination – killing the undesirable person or group Physical attack – violence and hate crimes Discrimination – harmful actions against disliked persons Avoidance – avoiding members of a disliked group Antilocution – negative comments about a disliked group

Stages of Prejudice Types of discrimination Sexism – misguided belief that one sex is superior to the other by the nature of things. Examples of sexism In no country in today’s world are women treated as well as men Greater poverty in households headed by women Women suffer from “glass ceiling” effect Some countries restrict the political participation of women Women condemned to unending menial labor Women victimized by men through violence

Stages of Prejudice Types of discrimination 2. Ageism: prejudice exhibited against older people Examples of ageism More and more elderly are living in poverty Stability of Social Security and Medicare are of great concern as more people retire The move to legalize abortion is an attempt to remove sick elderly persons seen as a burden

Stages of Prejudice Types of extermination: 1. Assassinations 2. Lynchings 3. Massacres 4. Terrorist bombings 5. Genocide Example: The Holocaust - Resulted from anti-semitism: prejudice against the Jewish people

Nine ways you can fight prejudice: 1. Pray for your conversion 2. Learn to celebrate differences 3. Look for inequalities in your school, work place, and parish 4. Avoid racial stereotypes, jokes, slurs 5. Refuse to participate in any verbal attacks on homosexual persons 6. Treat those with disabilities as unique individuals 7. Visit a nursing home with some friends 8. Avoid sexist comments 9. Include rather than exclude

Attempting to Explain Prejudice . Why do people hold on to their prejudices? People are too lazy to think Scapegoats are an easy way to deal with negative emotions Prejudice makes people feel superior Prejudice thrives because it pays both psychologically and financially . What are some characteristics of people who are prejudiced? . Difficulty dealing with ambiguity . Low self-esteem . Authority-oriented

Attempting to Explain Prejudice The home is the central school for learning prejudice Prejudice is learned Sexism is key in forming early prejudices

Ways to overcome prejudice: Participate in programs that put self in the shoes of others Work with different groups Be aware that prejudice is inconsistent with one’s values, attitudes and behaviors Establish laws/rules that require the fair treatment of others

Vocabulary prejudice stereotypes antilocution Discrimination sexism feminism patriarchy ageism anti-Semitism scapegoating