Download Prejudice revision guide

RACISM
When you treat
somebody differently
because of their race
SEXISM
When you treat
somebody differently
because of their
gender
AGEISM
When you treat
somebody differently
because of their age
Some people are also
treated differently
because they have a
disability
Justice
Everyone has equal value (for religious people
this means that everyone is equally important
to God). Because of this everyone should be
treated equally and fairly by the law.
Harmony
Living in peace with other people. Showing
kindness and compassion to others to build a
sense of community.
Tolerance
Accepting that people are different and learning
to value and get along with them. Allowing
people to have different views and opinions.
Value of the
Individual
Recognising that everyone has equal value to
God.
Hitler believed that
the Jews were inferior
to the rest of
Europeans and killed
over 6 million of them
in concentration
camps.
YES
NO
People have the
right to say, believe
and dress how they
choose
Although people have rights, we also have the
responsibility not to behave in ways that we
know will hurt or upset others
Some people’s views and actions ar
dangerous, society has the right to be kept
safe
Anthony Walker was killed in a racist
attack. Anthony was walking with his
white girlfriend when two youths saw
them and did not like their mixed race
relationship. The youths attacked
Anthony with an ice axe and he later
died from his injuries.
Women have been refused
jobs or paid less than men
for doing the same job
(this is now illegal).
What is it?
When you treat people more
favourably because of who they
are.
In the 1960’s, America introduced an intiative called ‘Affirmative
Action’, part of it’s aim was to increase the number of black students
going to college. Colleges were told that they had to increase their
intake of black students, some actually set targets and quotas for
how many black students that had to enroll.
Affirmative Action was introduced because, even though it was no
longer legal to treat black and white people differently, attitudes
were slow to change and the government of the day thought that this
would speed up the process of an equal society.
Why would people
discriminate positively?
To try and make things even
in society, if they have been
unfair in the past and
change is not happening
quickly enough.
During her time in
government, Labour MP,
Harriet Harman, wanted to
make it legal for people to
employ women and ethnic
minority groups on the
grounds that they wanted
more women or ethnic
minority groups within their
organisation
It helps to give people
opportunities that they
might not otherwise
have had
It is still discrimination and discrimination of any kind is wrong
It can help make
society a fairer place
It could cause resentment, people might find it difficult to get on with someone who they think is there simply
because of their colour or gender
It is not fair on people who are from majority groups, they could be more qualified for a place at
university but could lose out because there needs to be a target number of minority groups enrolled
People from minority groups might not want preferential treatment, they may want to succeed on their own
merits, rather than because they are from a minority group
In the Bible it says, ‘Let us make man in our own image’.
This suggests that everyone is equal because everyone is made by God.
Therefore Christians would be largely against positive discrimination because it is treating one group of
people differently to others which they would not see as being fair. They may be willing to accept it in
extreme situations if what was happening was already unfair, eg in 1960’s America some colleges were
reluctant to allow black students to study there, affirmative action was introduced to make colleges accept
black students.
AUTHORITY
In the Bible it says…
BELIEF
This suggests…
CONTEXT
Therefore…
‘Let us make man in
our own image’
Everyone was made
by God
Prejudice is wrong
because everyone is
the same
‘The Story of the
Good Samaritan’
That Jesus wanted
people to help each
other, even if they
were from different
groups.
Prejudice is wrong
because Jesus said
that everyone is
your neighbour
THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
A Jewish man is beaten up and left for
dead. Many people pass him but do not
stop to help. In the end it is a Samaritan
man who stops to help him even though
the Jews and the Samaritans were
enemies.
BACKGROUND
Traditionally men have been allowed to be
priests and vicars and women have not.
At the time Jesus lived, women were seen as
second class citizens to men and it was not
considered important that they be educated.
Jesus always treated women with respect and
encouraged them to listen to his teachings.
Jesus chose 12 male disciples to spread his
teachings after he had died.
It is traditional that
only men are priests
The writings of St Paul specify that women should be
‘Silent in church’ – how could they be priests if they are
supposed to be silent?
Recently some groups of Christians, such
as the Church of England have allowed
women to become vicars, but some, for
example, Roman Catholics still will not
allow it.
Jesus had to choose male disciples as, even though the Bible
shows us he had great respect for women, he was aware that the
majority of people did not, and so knew that nobody would listen
to them at the time.
Just because something is traditional, it doesn’t mean that it
is right, eg it used to be traditional to keep slaves yet
nobody would try to argue now that this was fair.
St Paul was known for his dislike of women and
tried to pass his ideas onto the rest of society.
In the Bible it says, ‘Let us make man in our own image’.
This suggests that everyone was made by God and therefore everyone is equal.
This had led many Christians to think that it is acceptable for women to be priests as they are equal to men and so should be able to
do the same jobs. Some Christians do not allow women to be priests, not because they don’t think that they are as capable as men,
but because they think that God intended for them to play a different role in the Church.
WHO
What has been done?
Strengths
Weaknesses
Laws have been passed making it
illegal to treat people differently.
These include the:
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
Race Relations Act 1976
Disability Discrimination Act 1995
It sends a clear message that
discrimination is wrong
Individuals Gee Walker
After her son Anthony was killed in a
racist attack, Gee Walker set up a
charity in his name to educate
young people about the dangers of
racism
Education can change people’s
attitudes and help them to
understand why discrimination is
wrong
Some people are ignorant and
refuse to listen to reasoned
explanations of why it is wrong to
be prejudiced
CommunitiesCorrymeela
Community
The Corrymeela Community was
founded by Catholics and
Protestants in Northern Ireland
during a time when violence was
tearing the country apart. It
promotes peace by building
relationships between Catholics and
Protestants. It provides a place
where people from both sides of the
conflict can meet and talk to each
other
It helps people to understand
each other and realise that
everyone is the same, regardless
of whether they are a Catholic or
a Protestant
It is difficult to change attitudes
when there is such a long history
of conflict
The Law
There is a consequence for people
discriminate against others
Changes in the law do not
automatically change people’s
attitudes
It can be difficult to prove
discrimination, eg an employer
may not want to hire a woman and
just pretend that a man was more
suitable for the job
People have to be willing to try to
accept others, this is not always
the case
BACKGROUND
Martin Luther King lived in America
during a time when it was legal to treat
black people differently to white
people. He campaigned for changes to
the law that would mean that people
of all races had to be treated equally.
Went on protest
marches to raise
awareness of what he
was campaigning for
After Rosa Parks was arrested for
refusing to give up her seat on the bus
to a white man, Martin Luther King
organised the bus boycot which was
so successful (because the bus
company lost so much money) that
the company got rid of the rule that
black people had to give up their seat
for white people
NON-VIOLENCE
Martin Luther King believed strongly in non-violent
protest and would not allow any of his demonstrations
to be violent. As a Christian, he believed in following
the example of Jesus who never used violence towards
anyone. He was also inspired by the work of Gandhi
who had managed to achieve equality in India through
non-violent protest.
Martin Luther King was sadly assassinated in 1968. He
had seen many reforms in his lifetime and his work
was continued by his supporters after his death.
When Barrack Obama was elected as the President of
the USA, many people attributed his success, in part,
to the work of Martin Luther King.
Organised ‘sit-ins’ in places such as
restaurants that had previously not
allowed black people to be served
Gave speeches to educate
and inspire people about
his vision that one day
everyone would be treated
equally, the most famous
of these was his ‘I have a
dream’ speech.