America’s Art of Prejudice

This is a Descriptive Essay I wrote for an English Class in 2005:

           To differentiate between two different types of people is to create a preconception about those people. Therefore, discrimination leads to prejudice and prejudice leads to discrimination. Everyone has a prejudice whether it is towards a culture, religion, clothing, color, sex, race, nationality, or food. We are all more partial towards one thing or another. People from Atlanta have a bias towards Coca-Cola while people from the North or the West tend to prefer Pepsi. While many countries have their own particular prejudices, American’s most common form of prejudice tends to be towards people and every type of people at that. The United States of America is the most prejudice country in the world due to racism, nativism, and intolerance. No other country in the world has such a diverse culture; a culture that has turned mere prejudice to hate.

           The “black and white” issue is the most predominate and historic prejudice in our country because of slavery and the long difficult fight for Civil Rights. First, whites believed blacks should be subservient; wait on them hand-and-foot, and tend their fields for free. Then came the Civil War and slavery was abolished, but because the country is run by white men and Lincoln’s purpose was more for revenge towards the south than a humanitarian accomplishment, these “freed slaves” had no money, homes, or jobs. The government did little to enforce the new law and the light at the end of the tunnel just got further away. One hundred years later America is “separate but equal”. A new medium for prejudice is formed: segregation. White people went to white schools; black people went to black schools. White people sat at the front of the bus while black people had to sit in the back. There were “white’s only” water fountains and restaurants that had signs reading “coloreds not allowed”, or if they were “allowed” they had to use the back entrance.

Today, I am not sure if Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud to see the achievements of his efforts or cry for the anger and hostility southern African Americans have in their heart. Today, the tables have turned. Today, black culture is “Pop” culture, and African Americans are prejudiced against the white people. Racism is a prejudice this country was built upon and may possibly die upon if we keep going through this vicious cycle.

When European and Asian immigrants started to flee to America, native-born inhabitants showed great resentment towards their arrival and generated stereotypes about their cultures. Irish, Italian, and Germans were stigmatized for their drinking. Mexican’s were said to be stealing jobs from the white man, and there was a plain dislike for the Asians. Most 'nativists" were white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants, like the Ku Klux Klan. Some were immigrants who viewed new immigrants as incapable of assimilation. Mexican Americans did not like new immigration of Mexicans because nativists discriminated against Mexicans and because they looked Mexican they were treated as foreigners. Immigrants were coming in from all sides; Europeans from Ellis Island in the East, Mexicans from Texas and California in the South, and Asians from California in the West. They flooded America’s cities, they could not speak English, had little to no money and no place to live. These immigrants were Catholic, Jewish, or atheist. This did not go over well with the white, Anglo-Saxon, God-fearing Protestants. So America closed the door to immigration. America was built by immigrants, nativists’ parents were immigrants and yet they still discriminated against foreigners. Immigrants were even prejudiced towards their own people.

Finally, intolerance took prejudice in America to another level, to include discrimination against age, sex, and income levels. Women have always been considered the “housewives” in American history. They, similarly to the African Americans, had no rights. Women were not allowed to vote until they proved themselves worthy through their hard work and dedication for their country in World War I. Prejudice towards the sexes created “Male chauvinism” and feminists. An example of prejudice towards age is that people think that teenagers will shoplift, or get mad because there is a baby in the movie theater, even though the baby has been asleep the whole time. Another example would be a slow-moving vehicle must be driven by an elderly person who can’t see over the wheel. They are all preconceived notions generated by prejudice. Rich people are biased against poor people while poor people are biased against rich people, and the middle-class hate both the poor and the rich. The rich are mad because they pay a lot of income tax, and get nothing back while the poor people pay hardly anything and get most of their money back from the government, and are eligible for welfare and food stamp benefits which are financed by the rich people’s taxes. Poor people hate the rich because they have a lot of money and have things that the poor do not have. The middle-class hates the poor because they are eligible for food stamps and the middle-class apparently makes “too much money” to qualify for assistance. They hate the rich because they are rich and have things that the middle-class person works hard for but still can not afford. These income levels create a clash between certain social groups, as well as political groups and thus forms yet another form of prejudice.

As much as I love my country, the ignorance of racism, nativism, and intolerance is just ridiculous. Biologically we are all the same, we are physically different and mentally different on an individual basis but we are still human beings and our differences create diversity and uniqueness. Every person has within them good, bad, and evil. Society teaches us which to use and when. Not all Muslims are terrorists, not all Jews are rich, not all poor white people are trash, not all black people steal, and not all teenagers are shoplifters. These are all stereotypes and nobody likes to be stereotyped. We all like to be known for uniqueness and originality. Prejudice is not fair to society, and it does more harm than good. America has made prejudice an art form.