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Show The nature of prejudice I EDITORS NOTE: The Nature of Prejudice first appeared in the November 24, 1972 issue of TIIE DESERET SAMPLER. Unfortunately, a period of ten months cannot erase the centuries of discrimination which make the article relevant. Delineating the historical victims of discrimination and the manifestation of prejudice within society, the first half of The Nature of Prejudice is reprinted below. The concluding segment will appear in our next issue. Raymond L. McNamara Chief, Information Office Prejudice and discriminatory practices, in one form or another, have plagued mankind almost from time immemorial It is pathetic that so very much of recorded history is a chronicle of mans inhumanity to man. In particular, Jews have been universally scapegoated. C. ' and ruthless destruction of Jews occurred in pogroms in Russia and in geno-cidslaughter in Hitlers Germany. Something there is in human nature which demands sacrificial Iamb$ or seeks out scapegoats for the venting of feelings of fear, inferiority, insecurity, jealousy, revenge or plain, unadulterated hate. Throughout the course of American (history, minority groups have been discriminated against because they were different and we were better than they. They were foreignIsnt it a shame that prejuers and we were native-bordice exists? Its a damn shame! The following letter, which aptly illustrates a prejudicial attitude, came from the files of an old newspaper. We did the underlining. To LETTER DATED JANUARY 20, 1872 the Editor: In your last issue you mention a solitary instance erf a person being found intoxicated on Street and being assisted to his home. With your permission I will give a few more instances of the same sort. On the morning of the 12th inst., about two oclock, three young men were picked up cm our streets under the influence of liquor and assisted one to his wife and family, and to their homes the others to their parents. On the same morning in broad daylight, a man in the meridian of life was seen to emerge from a grogery on Street, and shortly after was . found, in an out building in the same neighborhood, bruised and bleeding, from wounds received by falling on the frozen earth while intoxicated; he was cared for by a good Samaritan and conveyed to his family. These persons were not foreigners, but native-bor- n citizens of , bone erf our bone and flesh of reared among us under the influence flesh our of the Sanctuary and Sabbath School. Still further. A respectable young lady was insulted on one of our most public streets by a drunken rowdy on Saturday evening; and on the same night, after eleven oclock, six persons in-- toxicated were seen staggering .home, to their amities; and a drunken fight took place .in a " store on Street, in which cudgels and crutches were freely used. A female under the influence of liquor was observed on our streets on Sunday during the hours of public worship. Since then a drunken row on Street, participated in by several individuals, closes the catalogue for the week. More anon. Is it not time to wake up?" al Treatment of minority groups in America has been cruel to say the least. Yet, without the mistakes of the past, there could be no forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there would be no love. In spite of the inequities and injustices of the past, America has prospered and become a world power. No one race, ethnic group or religious denomination has a monopoly on sacrifice, service and contributions to this country. Isnt it a shame that prejudice exists? Its a damn shame! Members of minority races and ethnic groups have served, fought, and died in the defense of this Nation since the Revolutionary War, and even before. This first to die for the cause of independence was Cripus Attucks, a black, who was killed by a British bullet during the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. Yet, racial discrimination has been a problem in the Armed Forces since their inception. What has been done in the Armed Forces during recent years concerning prejudicial practices? In 1948 President Harry S. Truman sought to rectify longstanding inequities by an Executive Order which nullified segregated recruitment training, and service in the Armed Forces. Succeeding Presidents have also issued Executive Orders concerning discriminatory practices. These have been implemented by the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense, recognizing the existence of racial and religious prejudice, took action to do something about it with the inauguration of the Human Goals , Program. In this regard, Melvin iTJffW , Laird, Secretary of Defense One of the actions which I took after I became Secretary of Defense was to inaugurate a Human Goals Program to assure foil equality of opportunity for all members of the Department of Defense. This equal opportunity program prohibits discrimination in the assignment of military or civilian personnel. I have never authorized the issuance of any order or policy guidance restricting the assignment of any military personnel based on race, color, or creed. If any instructions issued by previous administration or by subordinate components of the Department of Defense deny or limit equal opportunity, such instructions or limitations were rescinded by the Human Goals Program. To reinforce this, I am directing all Department of Defense components that any practices which equal opportunity in assignment are in violation erf our policy and shall be ended - Friday, Sept. 7, 1973 THE FAMIbYr I&WYER Truth In Insurance Filling out an application for life insurance, Edwards came to a question about his health. He fail(aid he had a clear record, had doctor a that mention to ing once given him aspirin for a cold. After Edwards died, his famdy put in a claim for the insurance. But the company refused to pay off, charging that he had not told the whole truth in his application. And in a court test, the judge agreed with the company that the policy was null and void. The family didn't collect a cent. i seeds of hatred are planted during formative years, fester, grow . . . and are passed along from generation to generation. To get down to !)edrock, lets continue the process of elimination. Some sociologists maintain that a baby is merely a bundle of undefined potentialites. stated: n. - R. We will concern ourselves with the broad spectrum of prejudice, but particular attention will be devoted to the social problems of racial and religious prejudice. Because prejudice is such a personal and invididual thing, our purpose in writing this article is necessarily restricted to the stimulation of thinking in this area by presenting food for thought, and even more importantly, presenting food for behavioral change wherever possible. If we were instrumental in helping just one human being gain some insight and shed his or her prejudice, we would be eleated. In the context of our concern, prejudice is wasted energy; it is blind and illogical; so very often it erupts into pure, unadulterated hate, It can, and very often does, manifest itself in outright cruelty. Certainly, it is the alwence of love. Thats what prejudice is! It is prevalent in areas such as race, religion, sex, mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse and a host of others. It is postulated that with all the energy spent in prejudicial conduct, mankind could visit many planets, eradicate poverty, cure cancer, clean up the environment, or whatever. Isnt it a shame that prejudice exists? Its a damn shame! There is no racial or religious prejudice manifested by an infant. Little children will play together, have the usual childish squabbles in the games they play, but no demonstration of religious or racial prejudice is discernible. People are not born prejudiced; it is not inherited. Certainly, geneticists are agreed that there is nothing present in individual genes and chromosones that would account for prejudicial feelings.' .Psychologists and psychiatrists generally agree that prejudice is acquired, it is learned individually through lifes experiences. When we speak of prejudice, we are mainly concerned with the emotional integration of human beings. With the exception of psycholpathic personalities, human beings react to everyday situations and relationships with their feelings more than they do with their intellects. This characteristic of human behavior' is readily apparent in the areas of racial and religious prejudice; also, in prejudicial conduct in general. forthwith. dePlainly, that was a harsh down handed was it But cision. almost a century ago. It is hard to imagine a court today throwing out a familys life insurance on such riimsy grounds. While you are still expected to jell the truth in an insurance application, modern courts would judge your answers more reasonably. In a recent case, an applicant for life insurance was asked whether he used liquor to the point of intoxication. The man said he did not. Actually, however, he had been somewhat intoxicated on two occasions during the previous five years. Was his answer wrong enough to invalidate the policy? No, ruled a court, ordering the company to pay the familys claim. An occasional use of intoxisaid the court, cating liquor, does not (make) a man intemperate. Moreover, most life insurance policies now include an incontestability clause to further protect the beneficiaries. Under this clause, the insurance company has only a limited period usually, two years to quarrel with answers in the application. After that time the validity of the policy is beyond challenge. Still, even the incontestability clause won't help if the fraud is extreme. One man, sickly himself, sent a healthy friend to take his insurance examination for him. This fraud, discovered after the mans death, was held so basic that not even the incontestability clause could save the policy. An Ameriran Bar Association public service feature by Will Bernard. C We suppose that the author of this letter felt that one could expect unrulv and disgraceful conduct on the part of foreigners (them), but such conduct on the part of the e-born (us) was untinkable and too shocking for words. In any event, a distinction was made between foreigners and the native-borThe Pilgrims settled in America in 1620 and set themselves up as the founding fathers. However, they were met on their arrival by Indians, who looked cm the white men as intruders. 1973 American Bar Association nativ- raKov n. OKI i But the Indians helped these English colonists, led by a minority of separatists from the Church of England, to survive during the first winter by providing food and shelter. Over the years, white men battled with the Indians and eventually took over Indian lands. During the potato famine in Ireland, about the middle of the nineteenth century, thousands of Irishmen came to America and were exploited. Irish kids were put to work in New Englands textile mills when they were six or seven years old. It has been said that some were chained to the machines at which they worked. To them, Christmas was just another day of work. They worked from sunrise to sunset. Some factories had No Irish Need signs on their gates reading, Help Wanted would of write on sense with a humor, Apply. Irishmen, these signs, These same words appear on the Gates of Hell. Eventually, the Irish achieved stature in American society. Subsequent waves of immigrants from other countries came to America and werent treated too kindly by the Irish. The Irish were called Green Homs and "foreigners" when they first arrived in America. The Irish, in turn, used these same words in reference to Italian, Portugese and other immigrants. In recent years, in New York City in particular, Puerto Ricans have been mistreated, exploited and generally abused. Mexican wetbacks have lieen generally exploited and were interned during abused. Loval World War II. The slave trade was prevalent in America during the deyears following the Revolution to 1804, when it was clared illegal by the Congress. Slave ships would procure molasses from the West Indies; it was made into rum in Japanese-America- Service members. Essentially, the Services have implemented Directives of the Department of Defense and have, in effect, adopted the attitude that you cannot change individual prejudices, but you can change the rules and regulations to protect other individuals from prejudicial and discriminatory actions. Various offices, programs and projects have come into being. Slogans like Equal opportunity is everybody's business, are also used to combat discriminatory practices. Increased enrollment of ethnic minority members at the Service Academies has been encouraged. By no means is this a comprehensive compilation of programs and projects conducted by the Department of Defense. Listing and describing all of them is not the purpose of this article. Programs and projects are excellent managerial tools for the attainment of objectives, but we are principally concerned with the nature of prejudice. ns Rhode Island towns. The rum was traded in Africa for black natives. These d blacks were packed in ships and taken to where sold. were America, they poorly-ventilate- Treatment The Department of Defense created the Defense Race Relations Institute at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida in 1971 to provide six weeks instructor training to members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force who are qualified by interest, background, and experience to become instructors in this area Graduates return to bases to conduct seminars for all of minority groups forward to a cure. By the same token, the person who is prejudicially ill must recognize this fact and lie willing to do something about it. Honesty (that noble word) with oneself is the key, to trace his the first step, followed by some luck their to genesis. (Quite often this prejudicial feelings of a the professional analyst.) help requires VTicn the origin of prejudicial feelings is reached, it can be laughable; also, it can lie quite emotionally upsetting. Suppose one finds out that he first started hating blacks liccause some black kid gave him a bloody nose in the second grade at school? Suppose that one finds out that he first started hating Jews liecause of some Jewish kid that lieat him in a spelling bee in the eighth grade at school? These resurrected incidents could indeed lie at the root of his hatred of all blacks and all Jews. Hypothetically, we are oversimplifying for the purpose of illustration. The important thing that we are stressing hpre is that prejudicial feelings are acquired at some point in life and tendency of discharging the jealousy, anger, hate or whatever, (originally felt towards one Jew or one black), on all Jews or all ldacks. Prejudicial behavior can and very often does, take the form of generalization, the indudsive all, while the motivation for such conduct lies buried in the dim, distant past. soul-searchi- prejudice is wasted energy; it is blind and illogical; so very often it erupts into pure, unadulterated hate. . . . in America has been cruel to say the least. Yet without the mistakes of the past , there could be no forWithout giveness. forgiveness, there would be no love. Attitudes evolve from feelings. To change attitudes, we must change the feelings which gave birth to them. Hostile feelings are powerful. Jealousy can lead to hate and hate to murder. Invariably, prejudicial attitudes are acquired in the home. Familial attitudes mold individuals more so perhaps than those acquired outside the home. Invariably too, seeds of hatred are planted during formative years, fester, grow and are passed along from generation to generation. Would that human leings could lie recycled like tin cans or newspapers to purge them of prejudicial feelings! But human lieings are much more complex than these things. And people are more important than things. Hostile feelings can chain and paralyze a personality. Conversely, tender feelings can lilierate. There is no vaccine, magic elixir, palliative, or even a placebo to treat the prejudicial! v ill. Then how can one get rid of prejudicial feelings? In this regard, there is much to le learned from an alcoholic who initially addresses a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Ills first words are: I am an alcoholic". His audience gives him a round of applause. From his own admission that he is indeed an alcoholic, he is taking a step as . . . injury due to some in disregard of a irervms as of action or another, judgment unreasonable preor opinion, right; preconceived judgement dilection or objection; especially, an opinion or leaning adverse to anything without just grounds or liefore sufficient knowledge. Now that we have some inkling of what prejudice is, lets examine how and why people Income prejudiced. A good place to start is by the process of elimination. Also, by definition, prejudice takes many forms; it is multifaceted. Webster defines prejudice TOG BAUDS... For Dvgway Employ and Military Porsonnol A First Security Bank checking account maang immediate money in the bank on pay day for civilian and military personnel, at Dugway.' A plah has been developed permitting the delivery of your pay check to the First Security Bank on Base each pay day with credit to your eccount immediately! 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