Predjudice Rears its Ugly Head

The other day a friend stopped by and we began discussing the pros and cons of a new development that will be built at the entrance to our neighborhood. That particular piece of real estate has been an eyesore for over fifteen years. We had hoped and campaigned for a greenway but that fell through and now a developer had bought the property and was proposing to build an office condo complex or residential condos. The neighborhood association had recently done a poll and the results had been in favor of the offices with small businesses such as coffee shops, barber shops etc. on the bottom level. So this was what we were discussing but it was what came out of my mouth that has me wondering about my prejudices and values.

I preferred the upscale residential condos and went on to explain that since the area surrounding us was predominantly Hispanic that the offices and businesses would cater to that cliental and I could visualize young hoods hanging out at the stores and the possibility of gang activities. I presented my viewpoint in a clear precise manner and promptly forgot about it until a few days later when I was passing the proposed site. Then I suddenly remembered what I had said and worse, I remembered with a jolt and utter shame that my friend is Cuban American and his wife is from Ecuador. He and his wife are good friends and the thought of their ethnic backgrounds never occurred to me. If anyone asked me if I was prejudiced I would have answered a resounding NO but those words were definitely prejudicial. Although I would never judge an individual by their race or ethnic background I had a preconceived view of a group of individuals. It’s a preconceived stereotyped view of certain ethnic groups fed not only by my WASP heritage but also by the media. When a crime is reported, the news media will invariably mention the race or ethnic background of the perpetrator if they are other than white. A criminal is a criminal no matter his race so why mention it.

Unfortunately, I am not the only one who is inflicted by this insidious form of prejudice. I see it and hear it frequently usually prefaced by; “I have some very good friends who are black, Hispanic etc.” Some might call this benign prejudice as these are people who would never discriminate against an individual for their race or beliefs. These are people who would never participate or condone active racism – would they? I wonder how many of those who stood by and let the holocaust happen were inflicted with benign prejudice?

Although, I always speak out when I hear any type of malicious prejudice, I’m usually silent when I hear someone stereotype a particular group. So I’m apologizing for my part in this and plan to watch what I say. Prejudice in any shape or form is dangerous.