Checkpoint Predjudice

Checkpoint Predjudice

Checkpoint: Capstone Quest
There are many different causes of conflict; it could be race, religion, social groups and settings or something as trivial as clothing or hairstyles. There are many sources that can fuel many different reasons for people to end up in conflicting situations. Many times we do not want to be viewed as weak, stupid or fearful of our enemy, if it is something we can fight against. Unlike the weather, or a teacher without the help of a parent this is a no win situation. Racial and religious segregation are two areas I am going to broach. Due to slavery and it being followed by segregation and the color of ones skin many restaurants, schools and public places where of limits. Equal education was not in the picture for many blacks neither was joining the military and receiving equal treatment as the whites for serving for the same cause. After sometime the laws where changed but the thought process or reactions of the whites did not and it took a very long time. Findings such as these influenced the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision to desegregate U.S. schools and helped fuel the civil rights movement of the 1960s (Pettigrew, 1986). Yet studies of the effects of school desegregation have been less encouraging. After reviewing all the available studies, Walter Stephan (1986) concluded that racial attitudes had been little affected by desegregation.
Religion is also another forum that has been the source of much past and recent conflict for many. Many have been maimed or murdered for being members of a smaller religious group that refused to convert or where just not given the option and then killed for their views. These groups are victims of larger groups that seek out and use radical measures to fulfilling God’s wishes which usually end in conflict escalating situations. Those who call for violence see themselves as divinely directed and therefore obstacles must be eliminated (Little and others, 1996). There are ways to resolve both conflicting...