The History Of Prejudice And Discrimination

The city of Lexington, and everywhere else in the United States, has a deep history of prejudice and discrimination. From the slave trades taking place in Lexington’s streets to the modern-day Black Lives Matter advocates around the country, prejudices have shaped and defined our society. Prejudice and discrimination affect nearly every minority group. While the African American community might be the most blatant, there is plenty of prejudice towards Latino and other Spanish-speaking groups, Arabic people and followers of the Muslim faith, members of the LGBTQ community, and countless other groups. Countering the evils that come from prejudice and discrimination, are the heroes who fight every day to make it right. These heroes can be found …show more content…
Prejudices are a natural function of the brain. They are an evolutionary standard because our brains are hardwired to look for things that are different than us. Neurotransmitters in the brain fire when you think prejudice thoughts; the same neurotransmitters that fire when you feel fear or disgust. When you do not know much about a group of people, your brain forms prejudices, based on what you know about these groups. Initially, this was in order to keep the individual safe and signal fight or flight responses in the body. But, our brains aren’t hardwired to be racist either. The brain also has a neocortex devoted to sorting through these initial knee jerk reactions and thoughts (FIRST SOURCE). The problem is that most of these prejudices come from negative stereotypes: black men are thugs, gay men are promiscuous, etc. These thoughts can manifest as negative feelings about entire groups of people, based on little to no actual evidence. If you do not purposefully try and dispel thoughts like these, they will continue to manifest themselves into extremely negative thoughts about a specific group of …show more content…
It doesn’t matter if you are a straight, white, cisgender male, or the total opposite; you will both feel prejudice towards groups and be the victim of prejudice. The best way to end this way of thinking, and the discriminatory actions that occur as a result, is to talk about it. This is exactly what men like Raul did, and what I hope to do with the students at William Wells Brown. It’s impossible to end all prejudices, however, by changing our thoughts, we can work toward unlearning fear and hate, and create a healthier, and less discriminatory future for