The Nature of Prejudice

You are here

The Nature of Prejudice

Login or Create an Account

With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later!

Sign In | Sign Up

×
Downloads
MP4 Video - 720p (56.52 MB)
MP3 Audio (874.52 KB)

Downloads

The Nature of Prejudice

MP4 Video - 720p (56.52 MB)
MP3 Audio (874.52 KB)
×

We carry around our own fears and ideas. It is easy to impose our ideas on others. Give people a chance.

Transcript

 

[Gary Petty] The poet Carl Sandburg wrote a poem about a man who is walking down a road and a wagon comes from the other direction. And the wagon stops and the man says, "Hey, I'm looking for someplace to live. What are the people like that live around here?" And I'm paraphrasing a little, but what the man that was walking down the road says, "Well, what were the people like where you some from?" "Oh," the man says, "they were nothing but a bunch of lying, thieving, backbiting, backstabbing people." He said, "They were terrible." Then the man who was walking down the road said, "Yeah, that's the kind of people you'll find around here." So he says, "Well, I'm not moving here," and he moves on.

Not long later, another wagon comes along. And the man says, "Hey, we're thinking about living around here. What kind of people live around here?" And the man says, "Well, what kind of people were there where you came from?" He says, "Oh, well they were basically hard-working, honest, loving, kind people." He said, "Well, yeah, that's about how you'll find people around here."

That little poem gives us some information and understanding of the nature of prejudice. We have to be very careful when we go into any situation, we carry our own fears, our own prejudices, our own ideas about things, instead of taking people for who they are, finding out who they really are, and then deciding and making our decisions. And many times what we do if we're not careful, we actually impose upon other people our own fears, our own anxieties, our own hatreds. That's the nature of prejudice, and that's what Carl Sandburg just captured in his poem.

So think about prejudice – all of us have them – think about them, realize them, and realize we need to overcome our prejudice and give everybody a fair chance.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.