YES, Very often in young years, regrettably inbuilt prejudice is very difficult to overcome. With exposure to the world outside the home hopefully the child will see for themselves that bigotry is nasty and in the main ignorance

Generally bigotry arises from a lack of understanding, from a lack of knowledge of the subject about which the person is bigoted. To the extend the children learn from their parents, the children of bigots will be bigots. But to the extent that they learn from their community at large, they can learn to be unbigoted if their environment is unbigoted. Education is all - it is by education that knowledge spreads and mixes: parental training only passes information and attitudes, god or bad, downwards, not across.

It would be prejudice to state bigotry is genetic.

My mother broke this cycle in her own family. Her parents wouldn't allow their daughters to date outside their religion or culture. It took a lot of courage to change that mindset when she had her own children. My father still struggles with the legacy of bigotry - while he recognizes that all people should have equal opportunity and that race shouldn't matter, he still harbors negative feelings about the mixing of races. I do think that bigots produce little bigots - until the little "bigots" are old enough to think for themselves. After that it is their own decision and shouldn't be laid at their parents' doorstep.

Sadly it is taught... and we saw the beginnings of that just recently. "Well partly it makes sense with how the government loves hispanics..." Let the chain be broken.

Quite often, sadly. That apple never falls too far from the tree, in most cases.

Yes to an extent. You can't blame it on the parent forever there comes a point when they have to start to think for their self and become their own person.

They sure do produce "little bigots", and sometimes the little ones NEVER outgrow it. Thinking for yourself, to some people, is absolutely BETRAYING good ole Mom and Dad and the values they taught you. Sad, but there it is.

bigot- a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion. I looked it up just to make sure I understood what we were talking about. LOL! I think a person can be bigotted and their children up to a certain point/age are going to believe anything they say because they are supposed to be their protectors and because children often believe their parents are "super-humans" until they hit a certain age. I believe that once children reach a certain age and start recognizing that they are their own person. They start trying to achieve independance, hence the rebellion stage. Depending upon thier environment at that time, hopefully they will begin to see their parents flawed way of thinking and will not become racist etc. Now that child, based on their environment, might be afraid to voice their disagreement in opinion. Hopefully bigotry is not being taught in schools. I always try to tell my son that it's ok to have a different opinion than me as long as he knows why he disagrees. I believe that children should be allowed to grow and foster thier own opinions and beliefs. All a parent can do is teach them the "truth" that they know. All in all I guess my answer to the first question would be yes/no. My answer to the second part of the question would be sometimes/sometimes not.

Where do you think the Big bigots learned their ways?? More than likely from their bigot parents...and the vicious cycle continues...

Where do you think the Big bigots learned their ways?? More than likely from their bigot parents...and the vicious cycle continues...

Bigotry isn't genetic- but it is a form of stupidity, and stupidity is a LEARNED behavior. No one is born a bigot.

Values, education and ethics tend to be passed on through upbringin - its why the lower classes remain the lower classes and do not suddenly spawn super intelligent business leaders who leap to the upper echelons of society. Bigoted opinions is one of those value sets.

what is a bigot? =S

Ask Mel Gibson a known authority ;)

Our children learn from parents.... We instill in them what the observe and hear.

Statistically speaking, yes. However, it isn't absolute. My husband grew up with an extremely bigoted father. However, my husband was also the first one in his family to get a university education, and he is not even close to being a bigot. I guess what I'm saying is that it is a learned behavior, but with more education it can be unlearned.

i think its fairly common. children take their ques from the adults around them, so if they see their parents engaging in that kind of behavior, they'll grow up thinking its right.

When children are young they will do what they see and hear. They don't know any better. Later as they grow and experience more things they like every single one of us make a decision as to what is right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust, morale or immoral, etc. I was raised in a very backward bigotted culture that I would like to say has changed in the last 50 years, but sadly has not. But for all of us it is a choice and I made mine as a child to not be full of hate and ignorance and to not base everything on race or gender or religion, but the person themselves. Living where I live, it means that I can have no white friends and I have to listen (at work) to racial, gender, religious, and cultural slurs against anyone who is not a KKK, skin-head supporting, racist. (btw I am white.)

I don't know if that is true. I do know it's hard to find a bigger bigot than my father, but I would never ever dream of sharing any of his feelings like that, and never have. I was always so appalled at the things he said or thought, his ideas of who were people of worth. I was ashamed of that part of him. He was a good man in many ways, but that side of him I could never understand.

The odds are greater that will be the case but that is not necesssarily the outcome. These things are choices that you make based on external input. I was raised by one, and in my early life I went that way, but my biological sperm donor father is an uneducated ignorant a-hole and eventually I figured that out for myself. If my mothers genes hadn't kicked in, I suppose I would have turned out just like him for a lack of knowing better really. You have to have a rational balance where that is concerned or environmental factors take over common human tendencies. Children are not born to hate and even if they were, it is still a personal choice at the end of the day. I suppose that is one of the MANY reasons why we should not interbreed?

Yes, for many bigots are teachers and/or professors, or even politicians. The seed of bigotry must be given ample "sun", "water" and "nutrients" to grow.

Yes, bigots beget bigots. :-)

It simply depends on the person. I was raised by a biggot, whom i no longer talk to. But I came out okay. Its funny because she is a half caucasian american and always said that america and white people need to die and be bombed already. She's crazy..

Most bigots are raised to be bigots.Bigots raise their offspring to be bigots,their offspring may not be bigots.In Philadelphia (blacks are the majority,ninth-poorest U.S. city)many dark skin black kids parents teach their dark skin kids light skin blacks are conceited and not to date light skin blacks.I'm a light skin black.There are few light skin and dark skin or brown skin black young adult couples in Philly.