This something I'm turning in for the discussion portion of my multi-cultural counseling class tomorrow.
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Review of Contemporaneous Issues #2
COU 6304
January 26, 2006
I participated in a spirited discussion about prejudice last week. It occurred on the message board of an acquaintance’s website. I shared a story:
I am a white male, 37 years old. I have a BS, and am working on a master’s degree. I make middle-class money, am happily married and have two kids. I drive a minivan.
I live in a freakin’ ivory tower.
I also jog.
While jogging through a wooded park, I noticed a woman jogging towards me from maybe a quarter mile away. At our respective paces, we were going to pass each other during the stretch where the jogging trail was obscured by dense tree cover.
I kept on, and I emerged from the trees to see that, instead of being alone with me in the woods, the woman had done a u-turn and jogged off the other way.
Prejudice comes in lots of forms. It’s slippery business sometimes.
The reply, from another participant:
What? That's prejudice based on the fact that she lives in a sexist society that disempowers her and does not protect her from things like rape. That's the difference. You don't blame her because you shouldn't blame her, sad as it may be. Her actions did not in any way oppress you.
And I’ve been mulling this over ever since. I get the feeling one of us missed the point. Prejudice doesn’t exist exclusive of oppression? I didn’t argue, as I simply didn’t feel like it. And a white, middle-class male arguing that he’s been a victim of prejudice isn’t likely to get much sympathy. I say that as a fact, and without bitterness. I’m looking forward to gaining some insight about this in class.
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3 comments:
Hi, honey.
I tend to think it was more about fear and precaution than prejudice. I don't agree that prejudice only includes oppression; if you are hurt physically, emotionally, or mentally because of your sex, color, creed, whatever, THAT is prejudice to me. And I admit that I'm guilty of doing that much more than once.
Here's my take:
You used the term prejudice in the most literal sense: to pre-judge someone. That is to make a judgement without any knowledge other that which is seen on the surface.
You are absolutely correct to assert that the female jogger demonstrated a form of prejudice. Based upon the fact that you are male, she prejudged that you might be dangerous. That does not mean that her reasons for prejudging you were imprudent, immoral or oppressive. The were simply uninformed by facts other than your maleness.
I prejudge large dogs all the time. If one is off its leash and directly in my path, I am going to choose another route. I believe that to be the wise and prudent course of action, and I challenge anyone to come up with a reasonable argument to dissuade me from such prejudice.
Oppression is a different word and a different topic. Some prejudice does result in oppression. Some does not. It is precisely people's inability to differentiate between the two that causes so many problems.
Malicious prejudice is a problem because it oppresses people. We all have prejudices, and understanding and recognizing that fact can help us avoid falling into the trap of allowing our prejudices to result in harmful or oppressive acts.
If the female jogger had pulled out her mace and sprayed you as you jogged by in a preemptive strike to prevent being raped, that would have been malicious prejudice that resulted in your being oppressed. By merely turning to run the other direction, her prejudice merely took the form of a prudent response to the danger of rape.
Since it did no more harm to you than to make you think about the many forms that prejudice can take, no harm was done.
Now excuse me while I go use my prejudice to discern which type of music I might purchase on iTunes. I won't sample any musical soundtracks because my prejudice tells me that there is a really slim chance that I'll find one I'm interested in purchasing...
Ah, thanks ya'll. That's the kind of clarity I was seeking.
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