Jenice Armstrong, writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, recently wrote a commentary on the Mummer’s Day satire of Jay-Z manipulating Mayor Kenney. As satire, the Mummer performance was pretty lame—but bad taste and cheekiness, like feathers, are the make-up of Mummery.
However, there was something insidious to the article whose headline read: “History led us to assume the worst”. The heading, itself, works well as a definition of prejudice. The entire article is a rationalization for prejudice. The premise of the article is that events from our pasts justify our present snap judgments. We don’t have to be impartial; we don’t have to look carefully; we don’t need to apply grace; and others should be understanding when we shoot first and ask questions later.
If we make it our practice to defend our own prejudices, this is surely also an invitation for others to defend their own (contrary) prejudices. It is a recipe for the perpetuation of prejudice.
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