My thoughts on prejudice and discrimination

Prejudice may appear in many forms and it is similar to discrimination, though there are still differences between them. Prejudice is the looking down on somebody that is of different beliefs or religions, letting one feel that he or she is unacceptable whereas discrimination is also despising others but it involves physical action, unlike prejudice, which is more of just a thought and small little gestures.

Discrimination could cause very severe damage to a person or the whole society, for example racism, which would negatively impact the society. The racists would think that the other race is inferior to themselves, whereas the victims would be enraged and infuriated by the acts and gestures made by the racists, causing both parties relationship to get strained, and if someone provoked one of them, there would be racial riots, that causes chaos and pandemonium in the society and those innocent folks might also be involved, injuring them. Also, if the victim is repeatedly mocked and targeted at, there might be very serious effect, which might include losing faith in their beliefs and religions.

It seemed that discrimination is one of the worst things, however to me, not necessarily so. Being prejudiced against could have the same effect as being discriminated. To me, effect of discrimination is straightforward and fast. However, the result of being prejudiced against is slow and gradual, and rather of mentally hurt than physically hurt. If one goes out on street and received mocking and jeering and perhaps just being pointed at could make the person feel that something is very wrong inside him. For example, like what Mr. Lum showed us on youtube, a fat lady in her mid-50s wearing very simple clothes took part in and contested in the Britain's Got Talent competition. At first, I thought that she would be lousy, just like what the judges expressed through their facial expression. The woman, Susan Boyle, seemed very discouraged, but she still summoned the courage to sing her song. Once she opened her mouth, I noticed that she had a very powerful and touching voice, and she could reach a wide range of keys. Some of the judges and audiences were so touched that they cried. From this video, I learnt that one should not be prejudice against others and not to judge a book by its cover.

Therefore, I shall end my post hoping that we could stop discriminating and being prejudiced against others.