Prejudice is defined as a prejudgment, a feeling or an opinion established under no basis. It is when one decides to criticize another without any direct or contact with them or factual substance about them. In today’s world, social stereotypes and prejudices are based on various aspects of human orientation: skin color, racial background, financial background, religious preferences, physical appearance, gender and sexual orientation. There are many reasons behind social prejudices, some include: the ego-defensive reason, and the value-expressive reason. These pre-judgments have managed to create barriers between human beings and in a sense limited the knowledge children might chose to seek. Although some may argue that prejudice is highly due to human nature and human desire to feel superior, most of these prejudices are established by ones surroundings and environment.
People sometimes chose to be prejudice against others for various reasons as mentioned above, but all these reasons are in fact a way to create excuses for personal insecurities. People sometimes might hold some prejudices simply because they do not wish to admit certain failures and problems. These problems may include: failure in a war, a corrupt society or even a dysfunctional household. Others might hold prejudices because they wish to portray an aspect in life they value, such as a certain religion. Prejudice is highly due to peoples need to make first impressions; therefore they follow stereotypes when they cannot form a judgment of their own.
Prejudices and pre-established stereotypes are not born with human beings; they are formed by ones environment and often at a very early stage. When examining prejudice around the world, one cannot help but notice the prejudice that exists against Arabs, particularly Muslims. In today’s world, being Muslim or Arab is associated with terrorism; the Middle East is often viewed as the centre of terrorism. Young children around the world look at adults as role models and view their believes as given at least until they grow and seek personal knowledge about the world. If a child grows up surrounding by media and individuals around him who are constantly bashing on Muslims and accusing them of terrorism that child will not question these ideas but rather adopt them which later develops into prejudice against that certain group of people. This example shows that prejudice is in fact nurtured into the young minds of today’s world and could in fact be stopped if humans rid themselves of their need to feel superior.

Self- segregation is another type of prejudice created by ones feeling of inferiority due to social bigotry. For many years, blacks in the United States have been subjected to bigotry, physical abuse, and psychological abuse. James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time tells the story, through letters, of a society that has been discriminated against for so long these people started believing their abusers. Racism in America was well grounded in the society to an extent where black people started to believe what whites said about them: “he was defeated long before he died because at the bottom of his heart he really believed what white people said about him.” James Baldwin later explains in his book: “We cannot be free until they are free” This sentence explains that racism and social prejudices will not banish until people free their minds from these prejudices. This shows that the environment has such a great effect on peoples believes that it can make someone feel inferior and start discriminating against himself.
However, the most disturbing prejudice that exists in our modern society is that based on physical appearance. Most people in today’s world have authorized themselves to categorize others based on others hair color, weight, body shape, and even nose structure. For instance, physically attractive women have been and continue to be portrayed as obtuse, sexually promiscuous beings. This prejudice is in fact due to media that portrays attractive women like that creating a stereotype, which later develops into social prejudice against such women. The Punk community has also been subjected to prejudice comments by those who do not understand the Punk movement but simply dislike its appearance. Punks are portrayed as rebellious, sinners, and unworthy simply because they chose to express their selves in a certain manner: through, but not limited to, tattoos, piercings, and loud music. Society has created this prejudice against the Punk movement simply because it defies tradition and presents a new outlook towards the world.
Stereotyping others and nurturing children believing that human beings are different because of their religion, their physical appearance and their geographical location creates nothing but barriers between human being. Creating these stereotypes and prejudices creates limitations of knowledge, as these children will grow up refusing to accept different cultures and different perspectives. Our world needs to stop categorizing itself and start looking beyond physical appearances and personal believes in order to create a more accepting human culture. These prejudices are not difficult to rid ourselves of, as they are man-made, created by humans and nurtured by humans.

Bidliography
1) Baldwin, James. The Fire next Time. New York: Vintage International, 1993. Print.
2) "Stereotypes and Prejudices." Holocaust Cybrary Remembering the Stories of the Survivors - Remember.org. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .
3) Thompson, Amanda. "Why People Act with Prejudice." Associated Content from Yahoo! - Associatedcontent.com. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .