Reply #18: Can someone explain how prejudice comes from outside? [View All]

[MedleyMisty]

I'm not trying to be argumentative and I fully support the message of the OP. I just don't get how the elite create prejudice. I totally get how they can fan the flames of what's already there, but is anyone who really believes that all humans are equal going to suddenly change and hate everyone who doesn't look like them because of some media message? If so, one can argue that they didn't really believe in equality in the first place.

Or am I thinking about it the wrong way? I don't know, I don't understand humans really. I read The Nature of Prejudice and read all the discussions on here and various other web resources and other books to try and understand, and so far from those it seems that prejudice is all tied up in nature and nurturing and personal psychology - like if your parents are prejudiced there's a pretty good chance you'll learn it from them. And also be completely messed up by them and end up with problems that you project on to other groups and take out on them.

But I guess maybe you could say that the prevailing culture is sort of like a macro parent that teaches you prejudice? But even then, it's not like people are forced to do whatever culture tells them to. You're a pretty sad excuse for a human if you choose to hate others just because the people on the radio or on TV do.