Discrimination, Prejudice and Stereotyping

Discrimination means that someone is being treated unfairly because of a certain characteristic. The characteristic can be race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation; it can even be a physical disability. Discrimination is based on prejudice.

Prejudice is an attitude or belief which is formed or held without really considering the facts (Alberta Human Rights Commission, Human Rights: Respecting our Differences Students’ Manual at 6). Prejudice means judging in advance.

Stereotyping involves making global assumptions without knowing all the facts. A stereotype assumes that all members of a group share some general quality. (ie. They are smart, they are stupid, they are hard working, they are bad drivers, etc.) Stereotyping of people or groups can be derogatory and can lead to prejudice and discrimination. The following scenario illustrates how stereotypes can lead to discrimination.

People are often hurt by prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviour. People may lose out on jobs or apartments because of discriminatory attitudes. The law cannot control stereotyping or prejudicial attitudes; however, it can address discrimination. Prejudice is not a behaviour; discrimination is. For example, a person may be prejudiced against people with brown hair. If this person keeps the feeling to himself or herself then it is prejudice, but if this person starts to beat up all people with brown hair it becomes discrimination. Prejudice is a state of mind; discrimination is a definite action which results from prejudice.

Examples of discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping:

• “I don’t like Martians”. Joe has never met a Martian. He is prejudiced against Martians.
• Jeff will not eat shrimp. He has never tasted a shrimp. Jeff is prejudiced against shrimp. However, this does not mean that Jeff’s prejudice against shrimp is a negative one; this prejudiced attitude is not likely to harm anyone. Prejudice attitudes are not always negative.
• Jenny fell and hurt her leg. She was approached by a female doctor but refused help. She does not trust female doctors, even though she has never been treated by one. Jenny is prejudiced against female doctors.
• Jill wanted to play on the boys soccer team. She is a skilled player and can easily outrun most of the boys on the team. The coach won’t even let her try out. The coach is discriminating against Jill.
• Holly owns an apartment building in town. She makes it a policy to rent only to married people. She is discriminating against single and common law people.
• All Asians are excellent mathematicians. This is an example of a stereotype. Although this appears to be a positive stereotype, it can still be harmful.