1. Explain the differences between the meanings of the words in each of these pairs:
a) Stereotype and Prejudice
Answer:
A stereotype means thinking all people in a group are the same.
Prejudice means having a bad feeling or opinion about someone before knowing them.
b) Prejudice and Discrimination
Answer:
Prejudice is what you think or feel.
Discrimination is what you do, like treating someone unfairly.
c) Discrimination and Systemic Discrimination
Answer:
Discrimination is unfair action by a person.
Systemic discrimination is unfair rules or systems in schools, jobs, or government
2. What is perception? How are the ideas of Kenneth Boulding and Joel Barker about perception connected to one another?
Answer:
Perception is how we see and understand the world.
Boulding says we see the world based on our past and experiences.
Barker says our “paradigm” is the way our brain helps us understand things.
Both mean that people do not see the same situation in the same way.
3. Explain why standardized IQ tests are often criticized. Is their use in schools systemic discrimination?
Answer:
IQ tests are criticized because they are based on one culture and language.
Some students from different backgrounds may not do well on them.
This can be systemic discrimination if schools use these tests to treat students unfairly.
4. One reader said this about John Howard Griffin in an Internet review of his book
Black Like Me
:
“When the experiment was over, he could stop taking the pigment pills and living under the threat of violence. For black people, this is forever.”
Explain what the reader meant by it.
Answer:
The reader means Griffin could stop being treated badly after the experiment.
Black people cannot stop being judged by their skin color.
They face this problem all their lives.