Write a 100- to 200-word response to each of the following questions. Provide citations for all the sources you use.
• What is discrimination? How is discrimination different from prejudice and stereotyping?
Discrimination is a result of prejudice. Prejudice can be broken down to say people pre-judge, becoming a prejudice that turns into discrimination. When people pre-judge without having all of the facts, or knowing the ways of a certain people, they start a horrible ball rolling which turns into a discrimination. Discrimination is an action or a mentality which is, usually, negative. It is attitude and action toward people, or a group of people and is most of the time based on the hatred for race, sex or even sexual preference. According to Ch. 3, “Discrimination is the denial of opportunity and equal right to people and groups of people because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons.” (Schaefer, 2012)
• What are the causes of discrimination?
As I stated above, discrimination comes from prejudices. When people live pre-judging people, that judgment almost always turns into discrimination. Both of these things are fear based behaviors. The expression "ignorance is bliss" is not necessarily true. Fear and ignorance turn into prejudices, which cause discrimination.
In all actuality, it boils down to human comfort. Most people are more comfortable around people like themselves. When you add a person or group of people that is foreign, some become so uncomfortable that they start the pre-judging. Judgments come alive because of how someone looks, personal attitudes, or even media bias. An example would be the people of Muslim faith. Muslims are continually discriminated against based on fear, fear that they are all terrorist, which is an assumption fed by fear, gotten from the propaganda of governments and people.
