Today we started the class with a handout that asked you to reflect on certain scenarios. The objective was to identify possible prejudiced thinking and look at ways to rethink and unlearn our prejudices.
"The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind." E.B White
We reflected individually on the following questions:
What kinds of prejudice do you see at KCI?
Do you think others are prejudiced against you? Who and why?
How do you deal with prejudice from others? Within yourself?
What prejudices do you have that you would like to change?
From those questions we discussed how prejudice is not simple. We all have biases that come out according to the situation we're in. We all draw our "Prejudiced/Nonprejudiced" lines differently but what we must figure out is where we draw our lines and why.
We ended the class by looking at five faulty reasoning categories (Building Cultural Bridges) that were ways that people try to rationalize or justify their prejudice.
Five Faulty Reasoning Categories:
1 - Over generalization
Thinking that one or more pieces of evidence can justify making a broad conclusion.
Ex: "I don't know him, but I know his kind is worthless and lazy."
2 - Bandwagon
Thinking that the greater the number of people who believe something, the greater the probability that the something is true.
Ex: "It must be true about the new student because everyone is talking about it and everyone agrees."
3 - Projection
Transferring blame for one's own shortcomings, mistakes, and misdeeds to others or attributing to others one's own unacceptable impulses, thoughts and desires.
Ex: "If we could only stop the immigrants from coming over, our economic problems would be solved."
4 - Expert Opinion
Thinking that something is true because it is stated by someone who appears to be an expert.
Ex: "African Americans are better at sports than other racial groups because of their physical construction. That's what a scientist said!"
5 - Railroading
Thinking something because you are pressured to do so in order to conform and belong to a group.
Ex: " I didn't want to beat that guy up, but my friends were watching and I had to show them I could handle it."
Some points to remember about stereotypes:
Stereotypes are nothing more than categories, and we all put everything in categories as a natural function of the way our minds make sense of the world. The problem is that we may create categories based on half-truths, incomplete or inaccurate information.
Stereotypes can be very hard to change.
Association with people in informal social settings is essential to breaking stereotypes.
Having stereotypes does not make us bad or wrong people. But we should continue to explore our stereotypes and work to change them.
We need to recognize and identify our stereotypes and prejudice before we change them.
