Final answer:
Prejudice involves negative attitudes based on group membership, while discrimination involves actions against a group. One does not need to be personally prejudiced to engage in discrimination, as systemic or social norms can fuel discriminatory practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question addresses whether an individual must be prejudiced to discriminate. The answer is false. Discrimination refers to actions taken against individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, or gender, whereas prejudice is a negative attitude or feeling toward an individual based solely on their group membership. While intersecting, they are not one and the same; one can discriminate without conscious prejudice due to systemic factors or social norms, and one can harbor prejudices without acting upon them in a discriminatory manner.
Discrimination includes practices like redlining and Jim Crow laws, as well as more subtle forms like biased hiring practices. Our history provides many such examples of discrimination. Prejudice involves thoughts and feelings and is often based on stereotypes, which are overgeneralized beliefs about a group of people. Actions, not just thoughts, define discrimination.
Education and positive imagined interactions with people from different cultural groups can help reduce prejudice. People can have prejudiced attitudes without necessarily acting on them and thus not engaging in discrimination; similarly, people might discriminate as a product of social or systemic pressures without personal prejudice.