Why do people discriminate? Do they really think that they are better than other people just because they were born into a different "group?"

People "buy in" to popular thinking in their region.
In a general sense, all of us are victims of prejudice. However, when quickly dispelled, prejudicial thoughts will likely cause little or no hurt.
It is the nurturing of such thoughts that can result in harm. It can deceive us into believing a falsehood. For example, under the influence of prejudice, some people truly believe that a person can be greedy, lazy, stupid, or proud simply because of belonging to a certain religious, ethnic, or national group.
In many cases such misjudgment gives birth to unfair, abusive, or even violent treatment of others.
I feel that racial predjudice is a "tool", one of Satan's machinations that he freely uses to divide people.

Because people believe that their ways, values, and way of thinking is right and have a hard time looking at things through the eyes of someone else that is not like them. It is called ignorance. If you don't educate yourself in others values and beliefs, how will you know any different but your own way? Those people are blind for lack of education and find fault in everyone else but themselves.

many people discriminate for different reasons but it can ussually be traced down to fear. Fear of their culture, and they only fear their culture because they do not understand it.

People fear what they dont know or can not understnad

No...

In some cases, it has to do with fear of the unknown. They don't know anyone of that "group", so don't know anything about them.

In some cases, it's the way they were raised, and never having met anyone from those "groups", they have no clue that what they've been taught is wrong.

In some cases, it's because members of that group, using "affirmative action"-like laws, take jobs they and their friends used to have.

And, in some cases, people are just jerks.

The reality is even though we all may not hate people we do fear people we don't know. Maybe not take off and start running fear but fear that makes you view a person a certain way to have you on alert. We all stereotype people without even noticing our stereotypes most of the time I believe people stereotype to compensate for fear of the unkown possbilites the other person can do.

Usually it is a lack of critical thinking. We all have millions of ideas roaming around in our head, most of which were instilled there long before we had the power of discernment (to reject that which wasn't worth believing). If we never question that information, we run around acting on millions of ideas that are destructive to ourselves, others, or are simply logically faulty. Habit and fear are huge factors in discrimination.

Fear of what they don't understand, if you don't understand it, hurt it :-(

(''Becuase they are stupid'')
lol!

I think because of looks

all races look different

some races may only like their race.

Becuase they are stupid

Due to difference and disagreement to their beliefs or color, or personality.

people discriminate because they are sometimes afraid. others discriminate because they are ignorant.

Discrimination can be good or bad. If you pay more attention in airports and bus stations to Middle Eastern men between 17 and 40 than you do to blue-haired grandmothers from Minnesota, you're less likely to become atmospheric pollution. On the other hand, consider Huck Finn's father, as worthless a piece of crap as ever stunk up shoe leather. He assumed he was superior to a black man who was an Oxford or Harvard professor wearing a suit and derby, just because he was white. Discrimination can also be the last refuge of the incompetent.

Many good point alreays stated. Yes, some of them think they are superior because of upbringing, ignorance and often low self esteem.

Ignorance in most cases.

lack of knowledge.

Yes they do....

unfortunaty yes they do, racism and classism are founded on this, and we as humans have been programmed by the media and corporations and governments to seek status amongs the elite, to have better things, to be famous or wealthy or powerful and we look down upon those we consider beneath us because it is a reminder of what we might have once been or could be. Sad but true

There is no such thing as good discrimination, like seriously come on. There is only the bad type and you're someone who I assume does it to alot of Middle Easterns. Go and educate yourselve before you start saying things you know knothing about Roger

its a cruel choice of act

Because they are ignorant.

It is human nature: the most important person in the world is "me", so the most important people in the world must be "mine".

Most discrimination is actually unconscious. People simply do not realize they are doing it!

All people tend to be more comfortable with similiar people, who look like them and have similiar customs and value systems.

They are just narrow minded people who never see the other part of the world.

look at it this way,how do we learn to brush our teeth,eat,dress,cook....our parents i think that the reason a lot of the time is due to how the person was raised.I am dutch,my family from holland,born in America my dad in the military so i've lived all over the world.My dad never once told me to judge someone by the color of their skin,in fact if i said something negative about someone on T.V. whatever they looked like I got in trouble he taught me never to judge someone unless i new them personally.Not all children are as lucky as I in having a great man for a dad(no mom).so my answer is because we are taught by our parents how to treat other people,another reason could simply boil down to stereotyping,my brother was hurt in a home invasion,they raped a friend,and tried to steel all the money in the house,took their phones,pistol whipping everyone but the gun broke when they hit my brother,they separated everyone and one by one took them through the house taking anything of value,shooting the guns in the house 3 children under 10 were witness to this. When they left my brother jumped in his car and followed them into the city being shot at all the way,he did a police pit move with his car disabling their vehicle when it was all over the men each got 10 life sentances to be ran consecutivley,my point he is now racist.Why because of 4 men who JUST happened to be black.Because 4 men made a bad decision doesn't mean that everyone in that race would do this same thing to you.It is rediculous to think this way.Thats like saying all whites are cannibals,and murders because Jeffery Dahmer is white.

Arrogancy, yeah some shallow people think they are belong to more superior group.

One of the coolest words - "xenophobe; fears or hates foreighners, stange customs ect...". Mine; don't like different.

I think people discriminate, because they are envyous of each other. It is very similar to rascism. Many British hate Muslims(just example, not ment offensive), because they work harder, get better jobs and propably live better. We try to find things in people's characters which are bad to make them look less succesful.