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Show are stressing of illustration. The important thing that we some point at are acquired here is that prejudicial feeling; in life and tendency of discharging the jealousy, anger hate one black), or whatever, (originally felt towards one Jew or The Deseret Sampler, Fri., November 24, 1972 The nature of prejudice . on all Jews or all blacks. often does, take the Prejudicial behavior can and very the motiva- form of generalization, the indudsive all, while The power of excellence is overwhelming. It is always in demand and nobody cares about its color. 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 and ruthless dehave been universally scapegoated. C struction of Jews occurred in pogroms in Russia and in geno-cid- PEPAK-XMEI- GOALS in " .r ' We suppose that the author of this letter felt that oie could expect unrulv and disgraceful conduct on the part of foreigners (them), but such conduct on the part of the native-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 die founding fathers. However, they were met mi their arrival by Indians, who looked on the white men as n. intruders. 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 of would write on with sen.se a Irishmen, humor, Apply. these signs, These same words appear on the Gates of Hell. Eventually, the Irish achieved stature in American society. Sulisequent waves of immigrants from other countries came to America and weren't 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 Japanese-American- s World War II. The slave trade was prevalent in America during the years following the Revolution to 1804, when it was declared illegal by the Congress. Slave ships would procure molasses from the West Indies; it was made into rum Island towns. Hie mm was traded in Africa for black natives. These blacks were packed in poorly-ventilatships and taken to America, where they were sold. ed Treatment of minority groups in America has been cruel to say the least. Yet without the mistakes of the pasty there could be no forWithout forgiveness, there would be no love. giveness. 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 ifiame! 1 . - . OF DEfEJUSE HUMAN al slaughter in Hitler's Germany. Something there is in human nature which demands sacrificial lambs 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 foreignIsn't it a shame that prejuers and we were native-lwdice exists? Its a damn shame! Hie following letter, which aptly illustrates a prejudicial attitude, came from the files of an old newspaper. We did the underlining. LETTER - To DATED JANUARY 20, 1872 the Editor: In your last issue you mention a solitary instance of a person being found intoxicated Street and being assisted to his home. With on 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 on our , streets under the influence of liquor and assisted to their homes one to his wife and family, and 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; ne was cared for by a good Samaritan and conveyed to his family. These persons were not foreigners, but native- bom citizens of , bone of our bone and flesh of reared among us under the influence our flesh 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 intoxicated were seen staggering home to their families; and a drunken fight took place in a store on Street, in which cudgels and crutches were freely used, s A female under the influence of liquor was ob-served on our streets on Simday 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? On the other ride of the coin arethe victims of prejudicial treatment. Some are unable to cope with rejection, become dependent on public welfare, or retreat into institutions for the mentally ill. Others refuse to capitulate, fight back, and become tremendously successful. For example, just recently, Major General Daniel (Chappie) James, Jr., U.S. Air Force, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs, had some inspiring things to say concerning racial prejudice. This acclaimed fighter pilot and one of the highest-rankin- g black military officers made these remarks at a .. meeting of the National Association of Secondary School . .l' ,.. 9 ,r" V " ? V r, 4 4 . ..s " A mi mm ' - w(, f 'i . Im.,1 V - r'" !J .J1 ' . ; VW0& I 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 R. Laird, Secretary of Defense stated: 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 of our policy and shall lie ended forthwith. 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 memliers of the Army, Navy, and Air Force who are qualified by interest, background, and experience to liecome instructors .in this area. Graduates return to bases to conduct seminars for all - Service memliers. Essentially, the Services have implemented Directives of the Department of Defease and have, in effect, adopted the attitude that you cannot change individual prejudices, but you can change the rides and regulatioas to protect other individuals from prejudicial and discriminatory actions. Various offices, programs and projects have come into being.. Slogaas like Equal opportunity is everybodys business, are aiso used to comliat discriminatory practices. Increased enrollment of ethnic minority memliers at the Service Academies hasbeen 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 trails for the attainment of objectives, but we are principally concerned with the nature of prejudice. prejudice is wasted energy; it is blind and illogical; so very often it erupts into pure , unadulterated . . . hate. Webster defines prejudice as . . . injury due to some judgment or action of another, as in disregard of a persons' unreasonable preright; preconceived judgement or opinion, an dilection or objection; especially, opinion or leaning adwithout verse to anything just grounds or licfore sufficient knowledge. Now that we have some inkling of what prejudice is, how and why people liecome prcjiuliced. A examine lets to start is by the process of elimination. Also, by good place definition, prejudice takes many forms; it is multifaceted. We will concern ourselves with the broad spectrtim of prejudice, lint particular attention will lie 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 res tricted 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 absence of love. Thats what prejudice is! It is prevalent in areas such as race, religion, sex, mental illness, alcoholism, drug abase 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 shamel ' ... . i ... of hatred are planted during formative years, fester, grow and are passed along from generaseeds tion to generation. To get down to liedrock, lets continue the process of elimination. Some sociologists maintain that a baby is merely a bundle of undefined potentialites. 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 psvcholpathic 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. 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 beings could be recycled like tin cans or newspapers to purge them of prejudicial feeling;! But human beings 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 canlilierate. There is no vaccine, magic elixir, palliative, or even a placebo to treat the prejudicially ill. Then how can one get rid of prejudicial feelings? In this regard, there is much to lie learned from an alcoholic who initially- addresses a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. His first words arc: 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 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 prejudicial feelings liack to their genesis. (Quite often this requires the help of a professional analyst.) When the origin of prejudicial feelings is reached, it can lie laughable; also, it can lie quite emotionally upsetting Suppose one finds out that he first started hating blacks liecause some black kid give 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 licat him in a spelling liee 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, w-- are oversimplifying for the purpose - soul-searchi- e Principals: My young life was filled with orders, advice and encouragement. I was told to eliminate one by one all the reasons some bigot might say I was not capable of standing beside him or deserving of equal opportunity. If he says you are dirty, make sure you are clean. If he says you steal make sifre you dont. If he says you are dumb, make sure you learn. If he says you are scared, make sure you are brave, my son. And if there ever comes a time to fight for your country, don't you ran away and hide. And dont you ever, no matter what the provo cation or the invitation, turn your back on your God or your country or that flag. Remember, they said, you are not African. You ' are an American and this is your land. Many of those who will suggest you go back to Africa cannot trace their ancestors in this country as for back as you can trace yours. remember, they said, you are not African. You are an AMerican and this Is your land. Many of those who will suggest you go back to Africa cannot trace their ancestors in this country as far back as you can trace yours. This is your nation and on't you get so busy practicing your right to dissent that you forget your responsibility to contriliute. If she has ills, you hold her hand until she is well and then work for constuctive change within the system. Let your own contribution to the problems of your race by a byproduct of your achievement in your chosen field. You will prosper in proportion to your contribution to the nation. Remember that with the heritage of lieing an American gpes the respoasibility for developing that heritage and passing it on to your kids in better shape than you got it. Dont stop to argue with the ignoramus on the street who calls you nigger. You don't have time. Press on. Perform. Perform. Excel. Excel. And when you drive back by in the limousine of sue- cess, that ignoramus will still be standing there on the corner wrapped in his hate. The power of excellence is overwhelming. It is always in demand and nobody cares alxiut its color. -- j -- . . : I. I : " We recall one of our early mentors. He was a Jew, who roomed with a black man during undergraduate days at ; an eastern university. When teased by classmates about rooming with a black man, he would respond with a smile that neither he or his friend had the time to concern themselves with how they -differed in appearance. They were too busy. Their concern was preparing themselves for their respective careers. As the years passed, the Jew became an internationally-know- n forensic psychia- - 1 educa- trist; the black man became an internationally-know- n tor. Here again, the power of excellence Is demonstrated. For those, who with their venom of hate are trying to divide and destroy America by playing one ethnic group against another, need the following: I pray each day for those who may lie mislead and persuaded to try to destroy this great land of mine, which is called America. I will die in America and hope that iny life and my death may in some way lienefit mankind and ' lead them in the way the Christ would have them go. I will pray each day that I will never find hate in my heart for my country or any man. This is my country, land of the free. Where it is right, I will keep it right. And where it is wrong, . HI make ir right. But right or wrong, America is still my country. The aforementioned words, simple and yet so eloquent, were spoken at ope of the final sessions of the 50th National Convention of the Reserved Officers Association of America by the Honorable James E. Johnson, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Resource Affairs). Incidentally, his skin is black. Completely overlooked , or else completely ignored, by the bigots and disciples of intolerance is the fact that - in reducing us all to our lowest command denominator - we are all human beings. What alxiut religion and race? What choices do we have in these areas? Both are incidental 4o birth. In later years, relatively few reject the religion to which they were first exposed for another. Characteristics of our racial an- cestry are with us always. Very little can lie done alxiut changing them. By definition, religion is the service and adoration of Cod or a god as expressed in forms of worship and an awareness or conviction of the existence of a supreme lieing, arousing reverence, love, gratitude, the will to oliey and serve, and the like; as man only is capable of religion. Characteristics of some prevalent religions are a lxdief in God and a liclicf in the supernatural. Religion means many things to many people. Man is basically insecure, knowing not from whence he came or where he Is going. Ufe after death is accepted 7 by some on faith. Primitive man, living in a world which he did in his fear and insecurity created gods from the ; Z : -- 7 " 7 |
