Loretto Academy - Laurel Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

Page 10 text:

Kathy Harvey, a Yankee” senior at Loretto, Kansas City, and Saron Tmeson, confederate senior at Loretto’s Bishop Toolen High in Mobile. Alabama (also the editor of its newspaper, The Bitoolian), think on prejudice and give us their Candid Comment Since I am a Southerner, I suppose I should write a fiery expletive on why segregation of the races is the only possi- ble way for Southerners, and all white people, to live; but, because I don't feel fiery and because 1 don't believe in segregation, I really couldn't write such an article. This is not a defense of the South. The South does not need a defense. It perhaps needs fewer speakers who try to defend the bigoted sections of it and more speakers who try to make the situation, as a whole, understood. An intelligent person will recognize that the situation which exists in the South today exists in some form throughout the country! This is not to say that the same two groups are always involved; any minority group and someone who feels a prejudice toward the group can together cause a dissension. Integration in the South is a problem—a big one. Integra- tion in other parts of the country where different minority groups are involved is a problem—an equally big one, though perhaps not so noisy. Who in your community comprises the minority group —Indians, Catholics, Jews, Negroes? Who? Cover Story • . and browning, leaves are scuffed in the sun-warmed dust.” Since this year the laurelette will be published seasonally (that is: autumn, winter, spring, and summer), we have chosen for our first cover some of autumn’s browning leaves, aptly designed by Mar- garette Grant. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself where your preju- dice came from? You probably haven't; but, even if you have, you probably haven't found an answer, legitimate or otherwise. There is little scientific answer to the why of prejudice. Psychologists, particularly Gordon Allport, have studied the question and have given us the most probable reasons for discrimination towards a group. One of the two most obvious origins of prejudice is un- pleasant or irritable contacts with a member from a certain group. This alone can often give us a biased opinion of the whole group. The second is really more influential. From the time were small children, our parents, teachers, and age-mates all influence our thinking. Generally, if the people we learn from are prejudiced we tend to be also. The deeper more basic reason for prejudice is one that has been in existence for as long as man—scapegoating. This type of escape reasoning takes its name from the practice in ancient times where people would transfer all their sins to a goat through an elaborate ritual and then drive it into the wilderness, thus psychologically relieving them- selves of guilt and anxiety. The four primary reasons for scapegoating as' we know it today are frustration, guilt, fear, and the need for self- glorification. The first, frustration, stems from our tendency to become aggressive when frustrated with ourselves so we relieve this feeling by aggressive attitudes or actions towards someone or something. Our own guilt feelings are a second important cause of scapegoating. In America today the accelerated rate of sexual activity and cutthroat competition often produces conscious or unconscious feelings of guilt. The most com- mon reaction to this is to blame someone else. Reports that Jewish businessmen are dishonest and unscrupulous, for example, may arise partially from the guilt feelings of Gentiles about certain of their own business dealings. Fear of subversion or the lowering of American stand- ards by minority groups is another cause of scapegoating on our own student level, however, fear is shown in a more immediate manner. The fear of not being accepted if our opinions differ from the crowd's is a widespread anxiety among students. The need for self-glorification is still an- other basic motive for prejudice. Insecure people feel that they enhance and glorify themselves by treating others as inferior. So you see prejudice just doesn't happen. Yesterday, here- in America, Land of the Free, we gave birth to it and nursed it. Today, we sit back and look at our offspring, saying, My God! What a mess. Why doesn’t somebody do something?” 2 the laurelette