PREJUDICE or INJUSTICE

Today, I would like to mention about ‘prejudice’ which is a massive problem .The dictionary meaning of prejudice is; “In regards to someone or something , towards a definite event, situation or observation, priory obtained positive or negative assumptions , judgement.” According to another view “Prejudice is an adverse judgement or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge of the facts related to a person or a thing. Society’s whispers of every word and every image are pillars of our own prejudice. It’s a cover of humans’ thoughtlessness.”

In today’s world, the access to information got a lot easier by the help of technological tools. However this doesn’t mean every single information that we access reflects the truth. Thus, incomplete or inaccurate information crosses our paths as prejudice.

Having prejudice does not necessarily mean to be accusatory, pessimistic and insulting at all times. Another form of prejudice is attributing someone a quality ,beauty or virtues that are not deserved. There is no difference between seeing a person higher or lower than who they actually are. Consequently both views give what is not deserved rather than what is deserved. This situation is a preconception.

Having preconception mostly obstructs the reveal of an injustice. La Edri states that: “Prejudice is looking to life through a dirty window and seeing everything dirty.”

  To elaborate this topic further I would like to mention a movie named ‘12 Angry Men’ which most of us have watched or a least heard of it. The movie that is filmed in 1957 is one of unforgettable masterpieces of cinema history. The subject of the movie could be briefly explained by the famous quote of Einstein stating “ It is harder to crack prejudice than an atom.” The movie which Reginald Rose was the script writer and Sidney Lumet director, reflects the story of a young man who is accused of his father’s murder. The jury members composed of 12 people assembles in a small room ,challenges each other and have discussion about the necessary punishment to the suspect for about one and half hours.

The movie is very valuable as it showcases the meaning of preconception and the difficulty of convincing a person having such state. Instead of drowning you details of the movie I would actually like to point out the characteristics of players as today’s communities formed of these human characteristics that have been performed. To elaborate it I would like to give some information about the jury members.

1-     First jury member; the moderator . We cannot conclude about his opinions .He is a man of work a character who acts by the book.

2-      A person who is cowed and has herd psychology ,someone who could easily adapt and change sides depending on situations.

3-     A person who doesn’t lie but distorts the truth. Someone who is proud, sadist ,angry and have prejudice.

4-     Perfectionist and arrogant. Relies on his natural disposition. He doesn’t have much values about laws and ethics.

5-     Shy and withdrawn who is grown in suburbs. Silent and passive character. He belittles himself due to his background.

6-     In addition to his active personality , he tries to stick with goodness and justice. Ready to pay a price , brave and conscious of universal ethical values. However , time to time he may follow the majority without consideration.

7-     Interested in gambling and sport games. A character that is egoist, impatient and have unbalanced personality. As he couldn’t get an important place in society he indulges in leisure and doesn’t care any other matter.

8-     This jury member has high self esteem , merciful , critic and clever personality. Justice and goodness comes before anything else for him. He is afraid of slightest possibility of unfair treatment.

9-     An old person who has strong observation skills. although we are not quite sure about his opinions we can say that he tends to use his vote for good.

10-  Someone who likes to generalise , selfish, grumpy, careless and old .He thinks he is always right and expects respect at all times.

11-  11th jury member obeys the rules , prefers to listen rather than talking and takes a stand on justice.

12-  Last jury member changes sides according to the flow, side with whoever is strong, a groveler.

As it is apparent of the characteristics the jury composed of diverse nature of members. As a result; the resolution should be made by majority of votes and death sentence should be either affirmed or impunity declared.

In case the consensus could not be maintained, the jury should withdraw themselves. Only the eighth jury member finds the suspect as innocent and battles with prejudice of other members. In this regard the movie is a small compass for today’s society.

We are living in life similar to this movie, we have to sustain our lives where we engage with others from diverse backgrounds. We meet each other at a common ground and form nations and states. Regardless of the effect size , every individual in a society has an impact on others’ lives. As it’s seen in the movie the society is shaped in direction of dominant character type.

If the number of people with prejudice increases day by day then you would neither expect a success nor justice in that society. If otherwise , the people of compassion ,consciousness and justice is outnumbered then there would be peace ,safety, justice and tolerance for human beings.

And it’s important to outline who effects to whom. For this reason, to reach our desired society we first need to improve ourselves then cultivate the same for forthcoming generations. We should not get hopeless while doing this, the following quote emphasises this “ A nail saves a horseshoe , a horseshoe saves a horse , a horse saves a commander , a commander saves an army and an army save a country.”

By the way ,nowadays I believe one of the strongest response given to prejudice by students from Midyat county of Mardin who obtained a first place in a competition in Spain.

Within their limited means they have prepared a project named as ‘Sivrice Dream’ in robotics field and won the Shining Star first place award in FLL (First Lego League) European Open Championship held in Spain.

Even their classmates hadn’t believed it. Because their prejudice inseminated them that the western people are more successful and wealthy people would always win.

Here you see, if we leave prejudice and injustice aside we can see these sort achievements not rarely but always. I would like congratulate our tiny students for their well-deserved achievement and wish them success for their future.

Finally , as it is seen in the movie , if the relevant opportunities are given to those sincere beings who believe in their ideas asserted, they will be able to express themselves to others and gradual change would take place in the whole society.

In fact, some will always obstruct to accept! In this situation having majority would play an eminent role.

Wishing for not to have injustice beforehand. 

Dear reader , have you ever thought which jury member’s character demonstrates your role in society ?