Prejudice-Its Nature and Removal

Prejudice-Its Nature and Removal:

Prejudice means to pre-judge, to be arrived at the conclusion without looking into the full facts. The prejudices may be due to both emotions and jealousies. They may be either bad or good.

Fact and Prejudice:

What is fact? Fact is a statement that asserts or denies something. The fact which is accepted as a synonym of truth does not always remain truth. Its form continues to change. When some earlier imagination or guess is proved due to some reasons in some special circumstances, it becomes a truth. Likewise, the truth of today becomes the basis of imagination or guess in future. Hence, “Prejudice” is a “Fact” that has not been thought out and proved. That is why it is said that Prejudices are of two types- “positive” and “negative”. If we make it through self-study, we will find that many of us are free of prejudices although the existence of a few prejudices is essential and useful for society. These Prejudices perform an active role in society. Therefore, they are important it some extent.

Origin and Removal of Prejudice:

Prejudice has been in existence in society since very early times but its developed form has come before us after the establishment of the democratic system. The democratic set-up has developed the feeling of “weness”. “thyness”, “our party”, “their party” etc. Because of political and such types of different aims, different groups have been formed in the society. The origin of prejudices of today is nothing but this feeling of “weness”, “thyness” etc.

Today, one of the main problems before education is as to how to root out these prejudices. Many ways and means have been discovered to root out the prejudices but education is considered the best means for this purpose. Although it will take a long time to root out prejudices through education and to some extent it will also prove to be troublesome, yet there is no other means more suitable and efficacious than education. In order to remove the prejudices from society, we will have to change the minds of their thinking and arrive at decisions. We will have to bring about harmony among the different parties or groups of the society or will have to encourage all party education. Following will be the aims of such an education:

• This education will be actively centered.
• We will have to observe the mutual behaviour of the groups and common people in the society. We also have to see the mutual relationships of different castes and groups.
• We will have to evaluate the results in view of their equal rights. We will have to see whether the principle of equal right to acquire edcuation is being used in the society or not.
• We will have to seek cooperation with other institutions of such nature in the society.
• We will have to plan many co-curricular programmes in schools.

Lack of Friction Between the Majority and Minority:

The more the people of the majority group develop mutual cooperation and relations among themselves the more the unity of the minority group will increase. This unity creates friction in the minds of the people of the majority group. As a result of this friction, prejudices get an opportunity to rise. We will have, therefore, to remove this friction through education. In the sphere of education, some powerful methods have been discovered to root out prejudices. Some of these methods are described below-

• The prejudices can be removed by bringing harmony in religions, castes, economic and social differences. The people of lower classes fight more for their rights. They are not conscious of their duties. Education should inculctae in them the consciousness towards their duties.
• Many prejudices of the society can be removed if people learn to forget the weakness of others and live in cooperation with each other. Education will have to take efffective steps in this direction.
• The development of cultural unity will also lead to the removal of prejudices. Education will have to awaken an attitude of hatred towards the narrow tendencies.

Thus we see that these are some of the methods or means through which we can root out prejudices from society. In the campus of the schools, such different organizations of the students may be established so that bad prejudices may never get any opportunity to rise.