Prejudice at Age 6

Prejudice has always been a huge social problem, especially in the United States. In a city like NYC, there are many races, social classes, ethnicity, homelessness, disability, political beliefs, religion, and sexual orientations. With these wide range of characteristics, people are all vulnerable to prejudice. Prejudice is a prejudgement, or preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

In a study, researchers interviewed 92 African-American 1st to 6th graders from various social and economic backgrounds about job status and their own interest in particular occupations. Most Children associate white people with jobs of high status, and reversely associate black worker with job of low status. According to Lynn S. Liben, a psychology professor at Pennsylvania State University, poor children in the sixth grade show little interest in high status jobs such as doctor or lawyers, which is saw to be occupied primarily by whites. These children just assume they lack access to education and resources needed to acquire these jobs, so they just attach to a norm within their race.

I've seem many examples of this living in NYC, with all the diversities of ethnicity. I remember as little kid, I too associated African Americans as hostile people, because the type of exposure. I get the perception that all African Americans are bad people and all white people are nice based on the types of people I've met. It is crazy how prejudice takes over even the purest of mind. That little kids would self select something bad because they assume they are not good enough to it.

It is very similar to the white and black doll experiment thats done on young African American kids. The kids preferred the white doll over the black doll, that despite the them having the same color of skin, the white doll would be seem as a better doll.