“Racism: The Dangers of It” (Under the Juniper Tree S12E2)

August 13, 2020

Under the Juniper Tree Season 12, Episode 2 for Thursday, August 13, 2020

Prejudice occurs when you place judgment on a person based on prior conclusions you have made in your mind based on knowledge of a few members of the group. · This mindset is dangerous for a few reasons: o It attacks the self-worth of a person. § This idea become self-perpetuating as you can tell someone a lie enough times that he will believe it and act one way or another. o It leads to what is called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” § The term was first used by Robert Merton in 1948 to describe racial discrimination. § 4 Steps to a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. · Expectations about how a target will behave. · This creates behavior which is likely to elicit the expected target behavior. · Target indeed behaves in a way that confirms expectations. · Predicted behavior is seen. o A study has shown that prejudice and this prophecy can work hand in hand. § The study took place within a supermarket and studied how different managers treated different employees. § The managers who viewed certain employees as slower, lazy, and somewhat useless found these same employees to be slower, lazy, and somewhat useless. § BUT the managers who treated these same employees in an unbiased manner found the same employees to be quick, treated customers well, and were extremely useful at work.