An Understandable Bias
The judge glared down from his bench at the prospective juror. “And just why is it,” he asked, “that you don’t want to serve on this jury?” The man replied, “Well, judge, I’m biased. One look at that man convinced me that he’s guilty.” The judge scowled and replied, “That man is not the defendant, he’s the district attorney.”
Passion and Prejudice in Charge
Passion and prejudice govern the world, but only under the name of reason. –John Wesley
Undergirding
Prejudices are the props of civilization. –Andre Gide
Maturing in Bias
The older the prejudice, the hardier. Some are perennials. –Paul Eldridge
The Tenacious Nature of Prejudice
A Chinese man and a Jewish man were eating lunch together. Suddenly, without warning the Jew gets up, walks over to the Chinese fellow and smashes him in the mouth, sending him sprawling. The Chinese man picks himself up, rubs his jaw and asks, “What in the world did you do that for?” And the answer comes back: “For Pearl Harbor!” His response is total astonishment–”Pearl Harbor? I didn’t have anything to do with Pearl Harbor. It was the Japanese that bombed Pearl Harbor!” The Jew responds, “Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese—they’re all the same to me.” With that they both sit down again, and before too long the Chinese man gets up, walks over to the Jew and sends him flying with a hard slap to the jaw. The Jew yells out, “What did you do that for?” And the answer comes back: “The Titanic.” “The Titanic? Why, I didn’t have anything to do with the Titanic!” Whereupon the Chinese man replies, “Goldberg, Feinberg, Iceberg, they’re all the same to me!”
The Last Word
The following is a bit of homely psychological insight by that delightful commentator on life, Momma, by Mel Lazarus.
Mamma’s youngest son, Francis, drops by her house and says, “Momma, I’m bringing my new girlfriend in to meet you. Now, will you keep an open mind?” Momma replies, “Yes, dear.” “Remember, Momma, an open mind!” “Open mind, open mind.” She waits, smiling to herself, and in the last frame, she turns to the reader and remarks, “You’d be surprised how much prejudice can be crammed into an open mind.”
Antiprejudice
A first grader went on her first day to a newly integrated school at the height of the segregation storm. An anxious mother met her at the door to inquire, “How did everything go, honey?” “Oh, Mother! You know what? A little black girl sat next to me!” In fear and trepidation, the mother expected trauma, but tried to ask calmly, “And what happened?” “We were both so scared that we held hands all day.”
A Word for Prejudice
Without the aid of prejudice and custom, I should not be able to find my way across the room. –William Hazlitt