Interview

Below is the transcript interview with my mother on her views on prejudice and discrimination.

Me: What do you think of discrimination in the society?

Mother: I think that discrimination is applicable to almost every level in the society. Discrimination is caused by fears toward another party, and the insecurity they feel against someone else. It is all in the mind; if they need to get away from someone, they do not do it personally as they are afraid of being ostracised themselves. Instead, they gather in a group and they try to make their victim look bad on others.

Me: And what about prejudice?

Mother: Prejudice is the mindset where people discriminate against others, with no reason to why they do it. For example, not allowing someone to go out to play with others because of their different races and religion. Because of the person's dislike towards a certain subject, he or she should not convince others that the subject they have distaste for is bad too.

Me: You seem to have a rather holistic view on prejudice. What is your take on these two topics?

Mother: I think discrimination is definitely the harsher of the two. Prejudice is merely a mindset, whereby a person has opinions toward others, most probably bad, and deep in their heart reminding themselves that the people or objects are lower in quality or just simply having opinions against them because of the public views. Discrimination is the more concrete procedure, where actions, be it harmful physically or mentally to others, are carried out due to the apparent hatred or dislike towards a certain party, causing physical and emotional stress to the victim.

Me: Do you have anything more to say regarding these topics?

Mother: No, none at all. But I would end with my sympathies for those who are wrongly criticised and ousted from society due to prejudice and discrimination, even till today.

Me: Oh that's food for thought. Thank you for you time.