Reading Nancy Foner’s chapter, “The Sting of Prejudice,” I felt a personal connection to the vignette that Foner describes of racial prejudices against Jewish immigrants. I personally have been blessed to grow up without the threat of racial insults being tossed my way, but I know the same cannot be said for my grandparents or even my parents. Even though Jewish immigrants are now accepted as White and therefore not as privy to racial slurs, these degrading remarks are still rampant in other ethnic or religious groups’ day-to-day life. This slow change of race perception is frustrating, to say the least. The optimist in me wishes the process of complete tolerance would come soon, especially because man fabricates these racial ideologies. Meaning we have the power within ourselves to change racial perceptions by actively negating any deleterious racial stereotypes that pervade our present societal perceptions. It is a necessary step for all of mankind to be conscious of judging others favorably in this sense, because who are we to judge a person by the color of their skin, religion, or geographic homeland.
Additionally, today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is vital to remember what is at stake when man decides to incorporate racial prejudices and stereotypes into his decisions instead of accepting the differences that exist between people. Six million Jews, homosexuals, and disabled people were murdered because of perceived racial differences. The Jewish people were seen as non-Aryan; their heads were the wrong size, noses too big, and their dark hair and eyes were imperfect compared to the Aryan blond hair and blue eyes. These proposed racial ideas, including eugenics, led to a disastrous situation for the Jews and all others that did not fit the Aryan mold.
Racial conflicts are terrifying; they result in horrifying situations such as the Rwandan Genocide or the Holocaust. Instead of fearing the possibility of another catastrophe such as the aforementioned, we must make a conscious effort at understanding. It is important to both understand the differences between people, so to become more tolerant and aware of their practices, and to understand the similarities between people because that is vital in joining all people together under one umbrella of racial tolerance, even if physically we all may look distinctive.
