Discrimination Worksheet Essay

†¢ What is discrimination? How is discrimination different from prejudice and stereotyping? Discrimination is unfair treatment to different categories of people based on many things including race, religion, culture, orientation, and so on. Prejudice is, in my terms, judging someone without actually knowing anything about them. Stereotyping is very similar to prejudice but it is widely known groups that people are placed in like jock or nerd. Discrimination is different because you are acting on the hatred you have for people instead of just thinking about it. For example, it is the difference between thinking about killing someone and actually doing it. Discrimination is probably the most hurtful because you are being open about it to someone instead of thinking it to yourself. †¢ What are the causes of discrimination? Many things can cause discrimination. The main thing, I would say, is it is a learned behavior. This means these people who discriminate were probably raised to feel this way towards a certain group of people. What you learn growing up can stay with you for the rest of your life. Here you are a defenseless child who knows nothing but are told to hate a certain group of people, you are going to listen because you were raised to. Then, when you’re older, you will automatically discriminate against this group because you were told to. There is discrimination against people of other races because they have a different skin color which makes them â€Å"different.† There is discrimination against gay people because we don’t understand why they â€Å"choose† to be that way. These are just a couple examples of what causes discrimination. †¢ How is discrimination faced by one identity group (race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability) the same as discrimination faced by another? How are they different? I think discrimination is faced by all groups the same in one way, they are all getting treated unfairly because of their race, ethnicity, religion, etc. I don’t think there is a single person in life, even a white male, who has not experienced some form of discrimination in their lifetime. However, other than that one fact, I think everyone faces discrimination differently. People of different races deal with being called a lot of names. Also, people with different religions get made fun of for what they believe. Women receive a lot of negativity when they try to move up in a company because â€Å"the man† is supposed to. Gay men and women are frequently told they are going to Hell and God doesn’t approve. The funny this is, most gay people I know believe in God and go to church regularly! Discrimination is faced by many different groups in very different ways.