English Writer Humanist, William Hazlitt, Famously Wrote

English writer humanist, William Hazlitt, famously wrote "prejudice child ignorance." The works class read summer, Snow August Zeitoun, themes related dangers prejudice. In a -written essay analyze Dave Eggers Pete Hamill criticize prejudice work.

Prejudice and hate in New York City and New Orleans:

Snow in August vs. Zeitoun

"Prejudice is the child of ignorance."

-William Hazlitt, English writer and humanist

The essence of prejudice can be found in the word's etymology. To be prejudiced is to 'pre-judge' something, based upon assumptions that are not based in the here and now. To be prejudiced against someone because of his or her race or religion is to judge the individual by pre-existing suppositions, often based in ignorance and what is falsely considered 'common sense' knowledge. In the case of Snow in August, the Irish-American residents of the neighborhood where the protagonist Michael Devlin lives pre-judge the Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Hirsch because of his religion and the fact he is a recent immigrant from a land they know nothing about. In Zeitoun by David Eggers, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-American resident of New Orleans is apprehended by police during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Because of his race and religion, he is initially held without charges. He is denied his constitutional rights simply because officers prejudge him based upon his personal appearance.

In Snow in August, a young, fatherless Irish-American boy befriends a rabbi who teaches him about the Kabala (a mystical form of Judaism) and Jewish literature in exchange for English lessons and lessons on the game of baseball. The backdrop to the novel is the ascent of Jackie Robinson to the major leagues, as Robinson transcends the color barrier and prejudices of his age. Michael feels guilty when he sees the Falcons, a gang of Irish toughs who rule the streets, beat a Jewish man. Despite the fact that Michael is not prejudiced himself and identifies with Jackie Robinson and Robinson's ability to overcome discrimination, he feels compelled to conceal the crime he witnessed. There is a great deal of irony inherent in the story. On one hand, Michael is a member of a persecuted race. The Irish were oppressed by the English. But this former oppression has caused the Irish to develop an insular culture that rejects outsiders. There is also a 'code of silence.' No matter what an Irishman may do, no other Irishman is supposed to inform on him to the authorities. This forces Michael, in obeying this code, to implicitly endorse prejudice. The Falcons threaten to beat him (and eventually do beat him) if he 'turns' on them, betraying his race. "Around here, you don't tell the cops anything. They're like, I don't know, the enemy. And I'm Irish, Rabbi. If I talk to the cops I'm an informer and my mother says they were the worst people in Ireland" (Hamill 155). Prejudice and insularity cause Michael to conceal a crime he should not conceal as well as motivate the Falcons' bloody actions.

However, David Egger's Zeitoun is a far more frightening tale than Hamill's of prejudice. First of all, the incident chronicled in the book was motivated by the actions of law enforcement officials, acting on behalf of the government. Also, the story is nonfiction and happened very recently in American history, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. While Zeitoun's family left during the evacuation before the Hurricane, Zeitoun stayed to help. He had an old canoe that he used to paddle around the city streets, seeing whom he could assist. Zeitoun saved the lives of several people, fishing them out from the water and bringing others food and assistance. For his pains, the Syrian-American was taken away by a SWAT team, who were convinced, because of the man's race, that he must be a terrorist. Despite the fact that the city was in shambles, they had created a makeshift detention center in a Greyhound bus station, where Zeitoun was questioned. For days, his wife Kathy had no idea where he was, and all information was withheld from her as 'private' (Eggers 280). Kathy was shocked at the inhumanity of the justice system. "That this woman, a stranger, could know her despair and desperation, and simply deny her. That there could be trials without witnesses, that her government could make people disappear" (Eggers 319). Zeitoun was a good man, a hero whose actions should have been lionized, but because of his race he was a suspect. He and his wife had built a thriving construction business and were respected members of the community. But in the eyes of American law enforcement, they were simply Arabs and Muslims, which was equated with terrorism.