Prejudice & Discrimination

Prejudice & Discrimination

1. Definitions

   • Prejudice - Believing some people are inferior or superior without even knowing them
   • Discrimination - This means to act on the basis of prejudice
   • Racism - The belief that some races are superior to others.
   • Stereotyping - A generalised and simplistic mental idea of a group which is usually negative
   • Scapegoat - To blame things that go wrong on a particular person or group

2. Types of Discrimination:

   • Descrimination against disabled people
   • Rascism
   • Sexism
   • Ageism
   • Homophobia
   • Anti-semitism (against Jews)
   • Xenophobia (against foreigners)
   • Islamaphobia (against Muslims)

3. Martin Luther King

   • Leader of Montgomery Bus Boycott
     • This resulted in the outlaw of racial discrimination on intra-state buses.
   • Used non-violence to fight for what he believed in
   • Opposed Vietnam War
   • Campaigned for the poor - both black and some white people
   • When the civil rights movement was gaining ground, King would lead protests to develop interest among nation.
     • Lead Marches
       • Had patience for many years
   • He was elected President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
     • He began to help other communities when leading protests to fight against racial descrimination and injustice.
   • In Birmingham (Alabama) they were having a massive protest for fair hiring practices and the desegregation of department store facilities.
     • Police responded violently to the march but King proceeded to lead the protest without violence
   • When 200,000 people gathered at the Lincon Memorial in 1963 for the 'I have a dream speech'
     • He pushed the idea that non violence resistance was the most powerful weapon available.
   • King became challenged and publicly derided
     • He failed in his drive against racial discrimination in Chicago
       • He had made no progress in his battle against desegregation in public parks in Albany.
     • In the southern states, he looked for support from janitors, hospital workers, and pacifist intellectuals but he was unsuccessful.