Concerning race prejudice

The purpose of this paper is to discuss one of the most insidious forms of prejudice race prejudice. When we refer to a person by saying he belongs to this or that race, we set him apart. If he belongs to a different race from ourselves, we not only isolate him, but also look down on him. do we use race as a label of inferiority and It is obvious that men vary somewhat in the color of their skin, the shape of their heads, the texture of their hair, the color of their eyes, and their stature. But this does not mean that it is an easy matter to divide mankind into separate categories, called races. Some physical anthropologists at the present time doubt the wisdom, or the reality, of the categories they have created. They doubt the categories because too many individuals who are supposed to belong to a particular race do not meet enough of the specifications set up by the scientists for that race. In spite of this fact the man in the street is still quite certain about being able to distinguish a white man from a Negro or a Chinese. Much less is it possible to grade-label the different races in a series ranging from most superior to most inferior. There may well be innate mental differences corresponding to the differences in physique. But if this is true, they are so minute that no test yet devised has turned up any significant differences that can be laid at the doorstep of physical inheritance, popular opinion to the contrary. Anthropologists have made statements to this effect in no uncertain terms. Yet statements of fact have failed to change much of popular opinion on the subject. The question is, Why? As soon as we ask the question, Why do we use 'race' as a mark of inferiority or superiority? I believe we can see that, although' race prejudice is actually recent in the world's history, its roots go very deep in the past. For men have seen differences among themselves on grounds other than race for a long time. They have disdained or persecuted groups that did not appear to have the same characteristics, whether the dis

Prejudice (legal term · Race (biology · Sociology · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Gender Studies · Psychology · Race, Genetics, and Society · Social Psychology

• Some Social and Psychological Situations Related to Change in Attitude

  Open Access•Jeanne Watson•Human Relations•1950

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• H. Scudder Mekeel, 1902-1947

  Open Access•Gordon Macgregor•American Anthropologist•1948

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