Why_Do_People_in_General_Descriminate

There is discrimination all over the world, whether it is related to ethnic and racial backgrounds, religions, or nationality. The reason why people openly or privately discriminate against other groups is often different for each person.  Some people discriminate against particular groups due to fear of the unknown, or jealousy and the feeling of superiority.  A prime example of this is the apartheid period and the fictional writing of “All Summer in a Day”.  “All Summer in a Day” takes place on the planet Venus where the sun only appears in the sky once every seven years.  The stories characters are all nine years old and had lived on Venus their entire life except one named Margot.  Since Margot had lived on earth until she was five, she still remembered the sun unlike the rest of the children.  When she talked about it all the other kids would make fun of her and call her a liar, and when the sun was about to come out they locked her in a closet.  These kids that were discriminating against Margot felt superior to her because she was not born on Venus, afraid of being wrong about the sun and jealous of her knowledge. A real life situation that I mentioned before is the apartheid period.  The South African minority, the whites, took over the government and gave the South African majority, the blacks, little or no rights.  They did this because they feared the blacks and perhaps they felt jealous of their unification, and they most definitely felt superior to the black’s way of life. When people pre-judge others out of fear and jealousy, emotions override logical thought and discrimination is the result.  Discrimination is a terrible thing, and sadly, it will continue as long as there are arrogant and jealous people in the world.