Everyone is Prejudice

prej·u·dice
1 An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.
2 A preconceived preference or idea.
3. Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion
4. The act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions.

This article stems from the recent "racial profiling" accusation by Congresswoman McKinney that she was picked out because she was black. I'm not even going to touch on the exact references in this particular case. Mainly because I really don't give a shit what happened, the story is way to trumped up and sensational for what probably went on. I'm going to use it as a trigger to make my point.

Everyone is Prejudice. Everyone. I know you are saying to yourself "well everyone but me." Guess what you are in denial, you are not exempt, are you also an alchoholic? You too are prejudice.

Everyone gets a preconcieved idea about people before they know anything about them. Be it the color of their skin, the way they are dressed, the way they carry themselves, their social status, the way they smell, their teeth or the lack thereof. Well now I have to backtrack, if you have the mental capacity of a carrot and can't perceive the world around you and the people in it then maybe, just maybe you are exempt from being prejudice. We take in people with all of our senses and mix that with our own personal experiences.

Extreme example: You are in a liquor store buying some hooch. A man runs in wearing a ski mask and holding a shotgun. You prejudge this person as being a criminal about to rob the place and possibly kill or injure you. I you do not, natural selection will eventually catch up to you and weed you out. It's entirely possible that this is a setup for a movie or a renactment you have walked upon but the likelyhood of that being the case are almost nil. You were righfully justified in prejudging this person. I know this is a very extreme example but maybe it will help you see the minor ways you do it yourself.

I try to give most people a fair shake when I first meet them because I have been pleasently surprised on occasion how a person really is once you get past your first impression. There are the very few people in my life for no reason I can put my finger on other than "intution" that I instantly loathe. Not just a simple dislike or apathy but a true shiver down the spine hatred for a person I have never met and know nothing about. This is a very rare occurance but the few times I have gone against my gut feeling I have been burned. I just go with the instinct and avoid those people from now on. I may be missing out on something but it just has not been worth it in the past. Maybe I'm subconciously prejudging them and being right, who knows.

Anyway just something for you to think over, I have no real point to make other than if you are sitting all high and mighty on your throne patting yourself on the back for being so tolerant wake up and really look around, you are making judgements about people you don't know and others are doing the same to you.

Now if you are asking yourself what can I do to change it? Don't, just know it exists and make your way through the world.