I guess it's my turn to wear the Language Nazi hat; we need to start being more precise in the words we use to (attempt) to
describe attitudes/actions used as labels for people. So ...
Discrimination: to discriminate, which describes the ability to distinguish one thing from another, or to show a refinement in
such ability. It is not actually a pejorative and we should stop using it as if it were. When was the last time anyone was heard
to complain about a product being advertised as appealing to "those with discriminating tastes"? (Neither have I.)
Prejudice: to pre-judge something or someone, either favorably or unfavorably, without knowledge. Bad? Maybe, maybe not.
While it is undoubtedly bad when applied to people for insufficient reason – amount of melanin for instance – it is not of and
unto itself bad.
Prejudging people, situations, and things is actually a survival trait that we disregard at our peril. The person approaching
you late at night in a lonely area, head down and wearing a hoodie, should put you into “orange alert” status. That is
definitely a prejudicial response – that hoodie wearer may be a perfectly nice person – but until you know for certain your
prejudiced response is not a bad thing.
If both discrimination and prejudice are not necessarily bad things, we should stop using them as if they are always
indicative of ill will, at least without some sort of modifier. For example, instead of saying a person is “prejudiced” (we all are)
we might say that person is “racially prejudiced” as that does show ill will towards a person or group of people for
insufficient reason. [Why we should talk about ethnicity instead of race will be the topic of another rant!] As far as
discrimination is concerned, there seems to be no way to attach a modifier that would make it into something nasty; we must
perforce stop using it in that manner.
So, what can we say when we want to accuse someone of having an unreasoning dislike of some other race? Is there no
one word we can use? As it turns out, there is just such a word: bigot. A bigot is a person who is utterly and completely
intolerant of any race, creed, or belief other than his own. There are the usual variants which gives us bigoted and bigotry,
allowing us to fully and accurately discuss the person and his ideas.
There you have it; my plea for a more rational use of the words our forebears thoughtfully provided. I don’t expect an
overnight change in speech patterns based on my own desires, but if enough of us stop saying discrimination and prejudice
when we’re actually referring to bigots and bigotry we may make a difference among the rational. (Nothing is likely to
make a dent with the KKK, Black Lies Matter, the DNC, and similar groups that are themselves bigots.)
describe attitudes/actions used as labels for people. So ...
Discrimination: to discriminate, which describes the ability to distinguish one thing from another, or to show a refinement in
such ability. It is not actually a pejorative and we should stop using it as if it were. When was the last time anyone was heard
to complain about a product being advertised as appealing to "those with discriminating tastes"? (Neither have I.)
Prejudice: to pre-judge something or someone, either favorably or unfavorably, without knowledge. Bad? Maybe, maybe not.
While it is undoubtedly bad when applied to people for insufficient reason – amount of melanin for instance – it is not of and
unto itself bad.
Prejudging people, situations, and things is actually a survival trait that we disregard at our peril. The person approaching
you late at night in a lonely area, head down and wearing a hoodie, should put you into “orange alert” status. That is
definitely a prejudicial response – that hoodie wearer may be a perfectly nice person – but until you know for certain your
prejudiced response is not a bad thing.
If both discrimination and prejudice are not necessarily bad things, we should stop using them as if they are always
indicative of ill will, at least without some sort of modifier. For example, instead of saying a person is “prejudiced” (we all are)
we might say that person is “racially prejudiced” as that does show ill will towards a person or group of people for
insufficient reason. [Why we should talk about ethnicity instead of race will be the topic of another rant!] As far as
discrimination is concerned, there seems to be no way to attach a modifier that would make it into something nasty; we must
perforce stop using it in that manner.
So, what can we say when we want to accuse someone of having an unreasoning dislike of some other race? Is there no
one word we can use? As it turns out, there is just such a word: bigot. A bigot is a person who is utterly and completely
intolerant of any race, creed, or belief other than his own. There are the usual variants which gives us bigoted and bigotry,
allowing us to fully and accurately discuss the person and his ideas.
There you have it; my plea for a more rational use of the words our forebears thoughtfully provided. I don’t expect an
overnight change in speech patterns based on my own desires, but if enough of us stop saying discrimination and prejudice
when we’re actually referring to bigots and bigotry we may make a difference among the rational. (Nothing is likely to
make a dent with the KKK, Black Lies Matter, the DNC, and similar groups that are themselves bigots.)