Prejudice and Discrimination - Essay Example

 Prejudice and Discrimination The term prejudice simply refers to the disliking and displeasure of the people towards other members of society on the basis of their association with some particular social group. For instance, exhibiting of displeasure by the individuals towards some others on the basis of their adherence to gay society, terrorist organizations and others reflects their prejudice towards their activity. Similarly, the broad-minded people also maintain abhorrence against the condemnable extremists and terrorists, which reflects their prejudiced behavior towards such condemnable designs and activities. On the other had, discrimination serves as a biased behavior observed by the narrow-sighted and narrow-minded individuals towards the people, groups or communities belonging to the members of their outer groups other than their own ones. Hence, prejudice appears to be the bias some people practice against others on the basis of tribal, ethnic, racial, regional, religious, sexual and socioeconomic differences etc. For instance, the hate crimes committed by the black people against the white communities come under the definition of racial discrimination. Moreover, the recently committed nefarious and atrocious attacks of the wicked Sunni terrorists for murdering the Shiite tribe of Hazara in Baluchistan also demonstrate the discriminatory behavior on the basis of religious differences. 2. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism: The term ethnocentrism stands for the feelings of pride and sentimental association the individuals maintain regarding the cultural norms, values, mores, traditions, conventions and customs etc prevailing in their society. Hence, the concepts including my race, my ethnicity, my religion, my nation and my country etc demonstrate the individuals’ sentiments and feelings about their in-groups. The same feelings unconsciously dissociate the individuals from the groups and communities that serve to be out-groups for them. The peoples’ attachment with their in-groups also creates prejudice and bias in the minds of the people, which unconsciously entice them to start abhorring the people belonging to the out-groups subsequently. Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is the state of affairs where the individuals start analyzing all the activities and developments being made all around them in the light of the culture either they belong to or they adhere to or in which they have obtained their socialization process. It is perhaps due to the very reality that humans always attempt to adjust themselves according to the physical and social environment existing all around them. As a result, the social traits and characteristics, different ones from those adopted by them look strange and unacceptable. For instance, the women belonging to the Middle East and South Asia do not like to shake hand and embrace with the stranger males as physical contacts of all kinds have been strict taboo according to their cultural values. 3. Absolute and relative deprivation: Absolute deprivation or poverty threshold simply refers to the poverty line from where complete deprivation begins, and the individuals start leading a life with almost no financial benefits enough to meet with their basic needs altogether. Thus, absence or lack of the financial resources necessary to meet with basic needs leads the humans towards the state of absolute deprivation. On the other hand, relative deprivation is the state where the people assess and estimate their status, position and resources by making a comparative analysis with the position, income and wealth of others, particularly those who are in better position than them in one or more of these issues. Relative deprivation could be made while comparing one’s lifestyle with the in-groups and out-groups on the one side, and with the people belonging to divergent ethno-racial and religious communities and nations on the other. Actually people develop the habit of learning from the life and cultural patterns of others, which also urge them for making comparison of their financial and social position with others. As a result, when they find them inferior to others in respect of having less wealth and resources, they undergo the state of relative deprivation subsequently. 4. Affirmative Action: Affirmative action concentrates upon redressing of injustices, prejudice and/or discriminatory behavior had been observed by the mainstream population against women, blacks, homosexuals or other minority groups and communities in past. It is particularly applied to the multicultural societies like USA, UK, Canada and others, where the individuals coming from divergent ethno-racial, religious and regional groups and communities live under one and the same environment. There was a time when the ethno-racial discrimination and apartheid was at its peak, and the white majority used to look down upon them by taking them as their slaves and the descendants of the slaves the ancestors of the white people. The similar was also the situation with the Asians and Far East people during their visits or stay in the USA. As a result, the clashes between the civilizations were frequently observed in America and England, which cost the peace of these societies to a great extent. With the passage of time, the authorities started making efforts in order to discourage discrimination and prejudice from the face of the society. Thus, slavery was abolished by the then US President by 1863 in the country, and the women and blacks also obtained respectable place in society gradually. The same is also witnessed by the gays and lesbians, who have been allowed to for cohabitation and even marriage in few states of the USA. This very action taken by the administration is regarded to be an affirmative action within sociological perspective. 5. Glass Ceiling and Glass Wall: Glass ceiling and glass walls are two sociological notions, which maintain the meanings related to social values in their nature and scope. Glass ceiling refers to the barrier the minority or oppressed strata of societies experience while rendering services or entering into interaction with the mainstream culture. It is specifically applied to women, blacks, Jews and homosexuals, all of which underwent imperative hurdles and great barriers at the hands of male dominance, white racial prejudice, Christians’ discriminatory behavior and hatred of heterosexuals respectively. Not only this that the male managers and administrators do not let women grow in any male dominated organization, but also they would not tolerate happily to work as subordinates under the female administrators. The same is also applied to the gays, where many states and countries of the world deny the inclusion of homosexuals particularly in the armed services and other prestigious and reputed organizations. On the contrary, glass wall perspective encourages and promotes the members of opposite genders and groups, predominantly the projection of male employees under the female dominated institutions. Similarly, the promotion of white subordinates under the encouraging black managers also reflects the concept of glass wall. It has aptly been observed that the homosexual administrators also turn out to be supportive in respect of guiding and helping the heterosexuals is partly due to the fears and comprehensions the minority groups feel from the mainstream cultures, which force them to give due protocol to the members of influential groups in order to successfully penetrate in society in general. 6. Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965: The United States had introduced Immigration and Naturalization Act in 1965 by introducing the Hart-Celler Act and abolishing the national origins quota system in its nature and scope. The main objective behind introducing and implementing this act included the promotion of the immigration of the most skilled, competent and educated individuals from the third world without applying any quota system for the same. Before this, the national origins quota system was in vogue, where the US immigration officials used to allow some specific percentage of the people from every country or society of the globe in the light of reserving the seats or percentile for the foreigner emigrants. Somehow, it laid negative impact on the US society, where the unskilled, uneducated, ill-mannered, ill-groomed and extremist individuals also turned out to be successful in making their sure headway to seeking immigration of America. It was really an unpleasant state of affairs, which forced the US administration to revise its policy for the best interest of the nation. As a result, the new policy appeared that lifted the embargo of quota system in immigration scheme, and replaced it with the educated and proficient individuals from all corners of the globe without discrimination in order to ensure the rapidity of growth and development of the American socioeconomic set up in its wake. 7. Brain-Drain: The term brain drain simply refers to the migration of the intellectuals from their native country en masse in the pursuit of superior job, business, education and other perspectives and opportunities, which are not available in the state and country of their birth. Hence, the writers, philosophers, poets, lawyers, doctors, professors, engineers and architects etc leave their indigenous country for good in order to settle in some other country or region of the world. Collective abandoning of the native land could certainly put the future of the emigrant state into grave jeopardy by creating several challenges for it in the wake of the intellectuals’ leaving their motherland. Since the intellectuals are considered to be the brain of a society, their act of quitting their country certainly serves equivalent to the brain drain. The phenomenon has earned great popularity particularly during the second half of the last century, during which the developed countries had opened their immigration visa policy for the well-educated, highly skilled, experienced and well-settled young people in order to obtain their services for the socioeconomic uplift of their countries. As a result, the emigrant states were deprived of the great brains, due to the deficiency of their corrupt administrations, and the foreign authorities are taking benefits of the talents and skills of the educated and competent people belonging to the third world countries. Read More