Can prejudice ever be eliminated?

YES
1. Governments are working to outlaw prejudice, create greater equality and ensure the protection of rights for all their citizens Outlawing hate crime, guaranteeing civil rights, promoting equal access to education and employment E.g. voting of a black President into power by a majority white population is proof that prejudice can be eliminated over time with policies that create the social conditions for changing peoples perceptions

2. There is a groundswell of support for human rights within the international community
-

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch give pressure on situations in developing countries like the protests by Muslim groups in Nigeria along with media coverage and public support create a strong societal movement to ensure that governments are held accountable and a continual emphasis on eradicating prejudice is maintained

3. Education, by facilitating inner change, can liberate us from prejudice both on an intellectual and emotional level by combating ignorance, developing empathy and raising self-awareness
-

e.g. UNs Same as You campaign and the Red Ribbon Campaign for Aids allows compassion and solidarity to take the place of fear and discrimination with rising literacy rates, these efforts will bear fruit in the near future

4. Online social networking creates a network of friendships and a tableau of shared experiences that encompass people around the globe E.g. online posts about the suicide of an American youth due to homophobic bullying elicited expressions of grief and personal stories from people who identified with his situation Use of new media and international news cycle highlight issues of prejudice and rally support, e.g. Saudi Arabias ban on women driving, US military personal burning the Quran in Afghanistan

Conclusion:

The danger in believing we cannot eliminate it is that we accept it to be part of ourselves (inherent in human nature). This leads to a diminished will to fight and an increasing blindness to it, and we rob ourselves of true hope and make a mockery of the efforts of the past to emphasize the dignity and inalienable rights of every human being.

NO
1. Key aspects of prejudice are too deeply ingrained into their cultural upbringing and entrenched in their mindsets
-

Cultural preference for one gender (male): tragic killing and abandonment of female fetuses in China as a result of the infamous one-child policy extreme shift in gender demographics Ironically, this crisis has done little to abate the overarching preference for male children in the country as the cultural superiority of men over women continue to be reinforced

2. Prejudice accumulated over generations of conflict, mutual victimization and oppression that seemingly justifies perpetuating prejudicial perspectives. E.g. Palestinians and Israelis are far from reaching a resolution of their conflict after 60 years of conflict due to pain and trauma experienced from long period of fighting Loss of loved ones in such tragic crises makes it even more difficult for families to forgive and forget Continued poverty and suffering serves to entrench their trauma and make prejudicial attitudes even more immovable

3. Prejudice perspectives continue to be reinforced by political authorities with vested interests. Hitler and his Nazi regime: Jews were scapegoats which allowed him to influence the impoverished German masses with his vision of an Aryan supremacy South Africa: apartheid gave power to the white South Africans and enable the enslavement of black South Africans for their mines and plantations US government: foster amongst Americans an anxiety about attacks from terrorist factions for the dual benefit of distracting the masses from the

fiscal problems + justify continued US military presence in resource rich parts of the world Facilitates the sustaining of power as the people who are blinded by their prejudice and perceive a benefit from such ignorance are less likely to question their authority figures

Conclusion: Conscious re-education, diplomacy and acting to ensure that those larger organizations that represent us are congruent with our desire for equality for all. However, without the acceptance of responsibility from each and every individual, and a focusing of will to truly overcome the obstacles that stand in the way, the elimination of prejudice looks set to remain little more than a distant possibility.