Racial and Ethnic Diversity and Inequality
             Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought or reason. Prejudice may arise from many sources, including the views of family or peers, or it may come from strong identification with a particular group. From any source, prejudice is a problem that faces the American society today.
             As I enter the second semester of my college career I am able to better visualize the problem of racial and ethnic discrimination as well as prejudice. Living in such a diverse atmosphere as a college dormitory, helps make this topic more personal and easier for me to grasp. I live in an environment where people from different social categories have come together. Living with and around people of all races and ethnic backgrounds illustrates that people hold rigid opinions of members of a different social category. Prejudice is personally relevant to me because I am surrounded by people who often make social prejudgments about others before they even get to know them.
             I am examining the extent of prejudice through a survey of eleven questions designed to enable me to come to a general consensus about prejudice in today's society. By surveying twelve people of different gender, age range, and race, I wanted to find out society's universal perspective of prejudice, and its effects on society.
             Prejudice is a deep-rooted problem that does not just lie on the surface of society. Prejudice rests on stereotypes: overgeneralizations about a group and its members that go beyond existing evidence (Feagin and Feagin, 1996). Stereotyping is primarily used to call attention to beliefs that present an out-group in an uncomplimentary way and is usually a false generalization. Prejudice is principally harmful to one's emotions and or attitudes and more importantly can lead to discrimination. "Discrimination is the denial of opportunities an...