The End of Prejudice - Fighting Prejudice Today

Virtually all of us have preconceived ideas, but these do not have to lead to prejudice.  "Prejudgments become prejudices only if they are not reversible when exposed to new knowledge," says the book The Nature of Prejudice.  Often, prejudice can be overcome when people get to know one another.  However, notes the same source, "only the type of contact that leads people  to do things together is likely to result in changed attitudes."

This was how John, a Nigerian of the Ibo people, overcome his prejudice against the Hausa people.  "At university," he says, "I met some Hausa students who become by friends, and I discovered that they had fine principles.  I worked with one Hausa student on a joint project, and we got on very well; whereas  my previous companion, who was an Ibo, did not pull his weight." 

Next time: The End of Prejudice - A Tool to Fight Prejudice

From the jw.org publications