Prejudice is a result of both ignorance and experience really, isn't it?
I mean, I've had enough experience in my life to know that if someone's black that doesn't mean they're stupid or lazy or a criminal, but I've also had enough experience to know that if I meet a black kid who dresses like he wants to be a gangster then it's unlikely we're going to get on with each other. In the same way I know that not everyone who plays rugby is an obnoxious twat, but if there's a group of them in a pub of an evening then I'd seriously consider moving to a different pub before they start chanting idiotic songs and pissing in each other's beers.

I've got an aversion to posh people and I actually feel sad when I encounter the sort of people who you'd expect to see on stage on the Jeremy Kyle show. You'd be right to call this prejudice but it's also a really useful time-saving tool - I'll make as many assumptions as I want about someone, but if I've actually got to interact with them then I'll treat them with the respect that I'd want to be treated and I'll keep an open mind.

On more than one occasion I've been pleasantly surprised when someone that I was ready to write off as a horrible Tory git or a thick chav wanker turned out to be alright. I've also been disappointed when someone that I'd assumed to be intelligent, mature and liberal simply because they had a similar upbringing to me (because I'm obviously intelligent and mature and liberal...ahem) turned out to be stupid or racist or childish.

So what's my point? We're all prejudiced because that's how we're wired. It's up to us whether we choose to become a BNP knuckle-dragger or a proper human being.

Mind you, being a white middle-class male means I'm very rarely on the receiving end of negative prejudice. The only thing I generally get is people assuming I'm gay. This could be a bit hairy when I lived in Bristol and in Sheffield, however now that I live in Brighton it's a different story.

p.s. worst QOTW ever?
( yes yes yes man oi mate, someone's writtten 'bum' on your neck, Sat 3 Apr 2010, 14:08, 1 reply)

I also live in Brighton
and went out to dinner with a female friend because she was going back to the US (I am female myself) where the waitress looked us up and down and ushered us to a quiet candlelit table in a corner, then asked if we were celebrating and did we want any wine? We're both straight!!
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Sat 3 Apr 2010, 17:42, closed)