Discrimination refers to negative actions taken against someone solely because they belong to a particular group. Discrimination often grows out of negative beliefs - commonly called prejudice - which are biased thoughts and feelings directed at people because of their group membership. When prejudice shapes how someone is treated, the result is often unfair or harmful behavior. For example, older adults might be intentionally left out of social groups simply because of their age.

Prejudice and discrimination are closely related, but they aren’t the same thing:

• Prejudice involves biased opinions, judgments, or feelings about a group.
• Discrimination is the behavior that follows - actions that treat people differently because of group membership.

Discrimination can be based on race, ethnicity, age, religion, health status, and other key categories. For example, discrimination based on race or ethnicity has historically appeared in unfair housing policies such as redlining and in hiring practices that disadvantage certain groups.

Historically, overt discrimination has been deeply embedded in the history of the United States. In the late nineteenth century, business owners sometimes posted signs such as “Help Wanted: No Irish Need Apply.” The long-term enforcement of Jim Crow laws - often marked by “Whites Only” signs - provides another clear example of explicit discrimination. Although these overt practices are widely condemned today, their effects have left lasting social harm.

Different forms of discrimination are often described as forms of oppression, and they connect closely to privilege - the unearned benefits and advantages people receive because they belong to a dominant group. In discussions of race, a common focus is White privilege, meaning the societal advantages that benefit people who are or appear to be White. Many people recognize that non-White individuals face systemic disadvantages tied to skin color, but fewer initially acknowledge the benefits they may receive from being part of the dominant group. This reluctance can come from the belief that recognizing privilege diminishes personal effort or creates guilt. A key point is that privilege operates as an institutional condition, regardless of any individual’s intentions.

The relationship between prejudice and discrimination is complex. They can overlap, but they don’t always appear together. For example:

• Some individuals, referred to as unprejudiced nondiscriminators, are open-minded, tolerant, and accepting. Conversely, unprejudiced discriminators might inadvertently engage in discriminatory practices - for instance, by failing to consider women or gender nonconforming people for positions traditionally held by men - without actively endorsing sexist beliefs.
• There are also those classified as prejudiced nondiscriminators who hold racist beliefs yet do not manifest them through overt actions, as might be observed in a store owner who serves minority customers without consciously discriminating.
• Finally, prejudiced discriminators are those who actively express their negative attitudes through derogatory remarks or participate in hate crimes.

Factors such as power, prestige, and class also shape both individual and systemic discrimination. People with power - often policymakers, budget controllers, and legislators - can make decisions that benefit their own group, sometimes without being fully aware of it. A contemporary example appears in criminal justice policy, especially in how drug offenses have been punished.

During the 1980s, crack cocaine became widespread in impoverished urban areas, while cocaine was more commonly associated with wealthier individuals. Federal laws created severe sentencing disparities, such as a 10-year sentence for possession of 50 grams of crack compared with the same punishment for 5,000 grams of cocaine - a 1-to-100 ratio. This disparity reflected broader social inequities and disproportionately harmed marginalized communities. Later policies, including the 1994 Crime Bill, contributed to mass incarceration among Black and Hispanic populations, reinforcing cycles of poverty and inequality. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity to a 1-to-18 ratio, showing some movement toward addressing these inequities.

Taken together - the interaction between prejudice and discrimination, the role of institutional discrimination and privilege, and the influence of power, prestige, and class - these forces help explain how harmful behavior and systemic inequities continue to shape social life and reinforce existing hierarchies.