Discrimination

Ooooh, there's a nasty word. It is not as nasty as the 'n' word, but for some people, discrimination is indeed an inflammatory word. While there is some bad discrimination, however, there is a lot more good discrimination. In fact, life would be a sorry lot if people did not discriminate.

For example, take the process of selecting apples at a produce store. We choose the apples we will buy on the basis of our past experiences and on what people have told us about the freshness, the size, the color, and the taste and texture of the different varieties. Rotten apples, we know, are not good for us. We also eliminate apples that are bruised, or that have worms. Green apples, we know, are good for baking in pies, but they taste a little too tart for some people when we eat raw. The Yellow Delicious apples are sweet and juicy, but sometimes have a pithy texture. Then there are the Macintoshes, the Romes, the Jonathans, and dozens of other types that vary in size, color, flavor and texture. If the apples are too large, they won't fit in the children's lunch boxes; too small, and they are a pain to cut and peal for that pie. We use our knowledge to match the apple with our specific needs and tastes. People with different needs and tastes will select different apples. I really enjoyed my last efforts at apple discrimination. I got some Jonagolds--a cross between the Golden Delicious and the Jonathan. They are yellow with a bright red blush, tart and crisp like the Jonathan, and large and juicy like the Delicious.

So discrimination is the process of making choices based on our knowledge and our past experience. We use it to choose a place to live, to select an automobile, even to select a spouse. Good discrimination produces good results--delightful experiences. Those who say discrimination is bad have encountered the results of poor choices. Either they had to live with the results of a bad choice, or they were the person who was rejected by somebody who was making a bad choice. It is not discrimination that is bad; rather, it is the inaccurate knowledge, incomplete knowledge, or unrepresentative experiences of the person who makes the choices that is bad. Which knowledge we use is also important. In the example of the apples, I did not use price as a basis for the choice. In my store, all of the apples cost about the same, and a small price difference had no bearing on my decision. For a poorer person, saving a few pennies on the price may have been more important than having to cut away a bruise or two.

For a discrimination to produce good results, the knowledge upon which it is based must be valid, relevant, and complete. We get our knowledge from other people or from direct experience. When our knowledge is tainted with lies, when we fail to consider all of the relevant facts, when we consider unimportant or irrelevant facts, or when we generalize from one bad experience, our discrimination is faulty, and potentially leads to bad choices.

Unfortunately, some of us learn untrue things. Even more unfortunately, some of us are so stubborn that we refuse to replace the lies with facts. We refuse to accept and believe the truth. That is to say, some of us are prejudiced. The bad thing, then, is not discrimination; the bad thing is prejudice, the stubborn unwillingness to replace myth with fact.

So go forth and get accurate knowledge. Use it wisely and without prejudice. Then enjoy the fruits of discrimination, because discrimination is necessary for our well-being.