People Make Places and Prejudice Governs Place

This course also contains the study of race and ethnic pluralism. In this study we can also see prejudice at work. "Distinct ethnic groups coexist within the same political unit, but are not part of the same society; they might share the same nationality yet be ethnically distinct; they might be economically integrated while remaining socially separated. As individuals they mix, but only in the market place, in buying and selling. There is a plural society with different sections of society living side by side but separately within the same political unit" (Furnivall, 1948:304). This statement perfectly describes the current situation in Northern Ireland. At the moment, both communities are within the same political framework but there are barriers of the mind, which divide Protestants and Catholics and indeed these have become barriers of land. For a man from the Shankill Road dare not set foot on the Falls Road and vice versa. Also in the past, Northern Ireland is a prime example prejudice governing place. For instance, in Belfast in the 1960s through prejudice, Catholics were socially and physically incarcerated. They were shunted into working class houses in West Belfast. It says a lot about the power of prejudice and it tells us all about the course, people and their cultures making places and prejudice and perception governing places.…