Prejudice is described as the systematic viewing of one categorical group (race/ethnic/religious) as inferior to the categorical group in which you are a member.
Where does this prejudice come from?
It is often based in status inequalities (defined as being not as good as another group) and economic-based issues between groups that have contact.
While it is often a popular argument that prejudice leads to segregation and status differences, this is, in fact, incorrect. Instead, segregation and status differences lead to an increase in prejudices. This explains why integrated groups who have contact with one another in environments with status equality and cooperation have been found to have lower levels of racism than segregated groups.
I think it's in human nature to create prejudices. My biology lab TA always talks about how humans tend to kill anything that doesn't look like them, and not interact with anything that doesn't look like us in a animal kingdom point of view, but it's true. While other animals all interact, we don't. In the same competitive, "we are better than the rest" attitude, we carry that into our own species and compete and judge within ourselves.
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