The maps alone [1] seems to sum up so much of my experience with prejudice over the years. I grew up in and around and still live near DC which is near/at the bottom of the scale here.
First, it wasn't until I found my way onto the Internet regularly and into online games in particular in the second half of the 90s that I witnessed hate for Jews outside of history lessons. Suddenly, mixing in real-time with a not terribly diverse crowd from all the country the very word 'Jew' was an insult and heard regularly.
Next, in the early 2000s as my career got underway I ended up working with the people who vendors would fly in from cheaper parts of the country.
At the time, the staff in our group was better than half black with middle management comprised of a black man, hispanic man and an orthodox Jew. We had several people come who were particularly about who they were willing to take direction from and at least one who was sent packing mid-project for his very strong opinions on ethnicity.
Finally, as we move through tourist season in DC I've already had my summer dose of tourists talking about how 'wasting money educating negros is killing the country' and Obama's birth certificate.
I guess I should be very glad to have been born into such a melting pot.
> ...I ended up working with the people who vendors would fly in from cheaper parts of the country.
As someone who grew up in a cheaper part of the country, I was tempted to be offended by that comment (and particularly by the subsequent suggestion that people from cheaper parts of the country were more likely to be prejudiced).
I felt like you were pre-judging me based on where I was born - something I had as little control over as the color of my skin or my religious and cultural background.
But then I realized you're probably not always aware of your own prejudices, any more than I am. So no worries, we are all still learning how to get along and respect each other.
>'As someone who grew up in a cheaper part of the country, I was tempted to be offended by that comment (and particularly by the subsequent suggestion that people from cheaper parts of the country were more likely to be prejudiced).'
I appreciate that you've show restraint from that snap judgment and given me the benefit of the doubt then.
>'I felt like you were pre-judging me based on where I was born - something I had as little control over as the color of my skin or my religious and cultural background.'
That's not at all my intent.
Even though I'm noting some after the fact correlation (as opposed to presumption) between requests for cheaper professional services talent and those incidents it would be a pretty silly to pre-judge based on it.
In fact, I think that sort of negative-bias thinking is a common and costly mistake in both anecdotal observations or reported statistics. Even if something is 'more likely' the positive outcome is often even more likely.
The context of these charts is a pretty good example. It would be foolish for someone to focus on the suggested 10-12.5% for some state rather than the 87.5-90%.
It's particularly important in the case of human interactions where a default posture of respect and consideration regardless of the perceived odds costs little if anything at all.
>'But then I realized you're probably not always aware of your own prejudices, any more than I am.'
Sure.
I tend think prejudices and predilections are something we all have, but the key is try and be as aware and objective as possible - to treat people as individuals in spite of those notions.
This map reminds me just how split the state I live in, Washington, is. Living in Seattle it's hard to imagine we come in at the second highest category.
First, it wasn't until I found my way onto the Internet regularly and into online games in particular in the second half of the 90s that I witnessed hate for Jews outside of history lessons. Suddenly, mixing in real-time with a not terribly diverse crowd from all the country the very word 'Jew' was an insult and heard regularly.
Next, in the early 2000s as my career got underway I ended up working with the people who vendors would fly in from cheaper parts of the country.
At the time, the staff in our group was better than half black with middle management comprised of a black man, hispanic man and an orthodox Jew. We had several people come who were particularly about who they were willing to take direction from and at least one who was sent packing mid-project for his very strong opinions on ethnicity.
Finally, as we move through tourist season in DC I've already had my summer dose of tourists talking about how 'wasting money educating negros is killing the country' and Obama's birth certificate.
I guess I should be very glad to have been born into such a melting pot.
1: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/13/sunday-review/...