Warm greetings to the beautiful family of Hive and QC Community. How are you doing today? I trust you're doing great. Welcome to this beautiful Tuesday and to my blog. I'm delighted to turn in my response for my participation in the prompt for the week.
Prejudice - Have you ever realized that you unconsciously hold a prejudice? Have you ever tried to change your prejudice? How have you done so?
For a clear picture and better understanding, yet in a layman's terms Iād like to give a broader insight about prejudice. It's a situation whereby a person, group, or even country holds an unsubstantial negative view about another person, group or country relating to their race, personal belief, religion or culture. It could also be said to be an act of hasty generalization.
There was a time in my life where I unconsciously grew up with the opinion that the people of the Youruba tribe( a tribe from the Western part of my country; Nigeria); are all wicked and tribalistic. I'm from the East but was born and raised in the West. I never had the interest to learn their language nor had one of them as a friend because of this mindset.
How I nurtured this belief is unfounded to me. Perhaps, it could be childhood peer trauma. My seatmate then in secondary school was so troublesome and domineering. We regularly fight and her tribal allies support her in solidarity. This made me not to associate with anyone I suspected was from that region.
I attended my university education in the East where I'd have the majority of the students from my tribe, as I presumed. During my Youth Service year I was posted to a neutral region. There, I met some beautiful souls from the same Yoruba tribe I'd been avoiding, lol. And that changed the narrative. We related like siblings from different mothers.
It's over 15 years now, and that relationship is still on even now that we have gone our separate ways in pursuit of life. Sometimes in one of our discussions I shared my experience in the past and my perception about their tribe with them. Unfortunately they too held the same perceptions about mine. You see, there's no perfect human, tribe, region, country e.t.c. We just have to treat everyone as a unique individual.
Anyone in business will agree with me that there's no permanent enemy or friendship. We just have to find a common ground to agree, relate and move on with our life's activities. When I started my Network Marketing business I met different people from different backgrounds, beliefs, religion, tribes, and races. I realized that to thrive you need people irrespective of their affiliations.
No person or group has it all, I just have to focus on the main thing and accept the fact that everyone is unique in their own way and that no two individuals or groups will behave or share opinions the same way as mine. I have to accept everyone as individuals not based on their affiliations. This mindset is the game changer for me. I've grown beyond hasty generalization. In fact, my closest friends and business partners now are from Yoruba.
Prejudice is a destructive tool that does no good if held on to. As it is with the people of the North,South and West, so it is with the people of the East. We are all born equally, but behave differently. Moreso, no two individuals behave or reason alike, not even identical twins. So also it is with every spheres of life. The realization of this fact is the beginning of peaceful cohabitation for all.
Thank you abundantly for stopping by š!