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Civil rights and race relations materials, 1957-1964

What You Can Do About Racial Prejudice In Housing Page 12

vincing those with hidden prejudices to keep them hidden long enough to see if they are really valid.
MYTH VS. FACT
No one ever admits to naked prejudice toward a minority group. There are always "reasons" which are "unfortunate but true" that force an otherwise good-willed person to take action of a prejudicial nature towards Negroes. Prejudiced people hide their prejudices (of which they are somewhat ashamed) under a number of other guises--economic, social, even humanitarian ("Negroes shouldn't be forced to live in white communities!").
The so-called "facts" upon which they base their attitudes are simply not facts at all! Yet many of them have gained such wide currency that they are unquestionably accepted by most people as being immutable facts of life. A good deal of persuasive evidence must be mustered to refute these myths.
It should be pointed out that refuting the myths of housing prejudice does not, per se, eliminate prejudice. It simply disarms the prejudiced person so that the way is cleared for further action, leading eventually to the experience of living in the same community with Negroes and thus discovering, emotionally as well as intellectually, that racial prejudice is baseless.
But since so much weight is given certain "justifications" for the practice of discrimination, we must pay more than passing attention to them. Anyone dealing with housing prejudice would do well to have a good command of the real facts about these matters. Know what the questions are--and the facts that answer them effectively.
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vincing those with hidden prejudices to keep them hidden long enough to see if they are really valid. MYTH VS. FACT No one ever admits to naked prejudice toward a minority group. There are always "reasons" which are "unfortunate but true" that force an otherwise good-willed person to take action of a prejudicial nature towards Negroes. Prejudiced people hide their prejudices (of which they are somewhat ashamed) under a number of other guises--economic, social, even humanitarian ("Negroes shouldn't be forced to live in white communities!"). The so-called "facts" upon which they base their attitudes are simply not facts at all! Yet many of them have gained such wide currency that they are unquestionably accepted by most people as being immutable facts of life. A good deal of persuasive evidence must be mustered to refute these myths. It should be pointed out that refuting the myths of housing prejudice does not, per se, eliminate prejudice. It simply disarms the prejudiced person so that the way is cleared for further action, leading eventually to the experience of living in the same community with Negroes and thus discovering, emotionally as well as intellectually, that racial prejudice is baseless. But since so much weight is given certain "justifications" for the practice of discrimination, we must pay more than passing attention to them. Anyone dealing with housing prejudice would do well to have a good command of the real facts about these matters. Know what the questions are--and the facts that answer them effectively. 12