Prejudice

• British comedian Omid Djalili's family came from Iran, but he is not a Muslim (he is a Baha'i); however, became of his genetics, he looks foreign to some of his fellow Brits, and that can lead to misunderstandings. For example, at Heathrow Airport, he looked anxiously to two men who seemed suspicious to him: they were muttering and bearded. He then looked at his fellow Brits, and he saw that they were anxiously looking at him. He says, "I shouted at people and said, 'What are you looking at me for? Can't you see those blokes over there?' I had a real go at them, which made things worse. People just got upset and averted their eyes and I ended up muttering to myself." This story is important because, as British journalist Ginny Dougary writes, "One slight problem with this is that his bearded brethren were doubtless just as innocent as Djalili. But it's still a relief to hear a comedian having the guts to examine prejudice from his own perspective, only to demonstrate how he is also the victim of the same nervy thought poison."

• During the Jim Crow days, professional baseball player Ed Charles, an African American, and his white teammates (and one black teammate) stopped in rural Georgia. The black ballplayers were not allowed to eat in the restaurant, so their white teammates brought out food for them to eat on the team bus. But, of course, the white teammates could not go to the restroom for them. Mr. Charles was angry, so he entered the "Whites Only" restroom and a white employee entered and started hassling him. One of Mr. Charles' white teammates entered the restroom and got in the white employee's face, then a second white teammate entered the restroom and got in the white employee's face, and then a third white teammate entered the restroom and got in the white employee's face. Finally, the white employee decided that he didn't have any hassle left in him and he let Mr. Charles alone.

• Larry Doby, the second African-American athlete to integrate major-league baseball, was born in Camden, S. C. Wealthy white people used to ride through black neighborhoods and throw nickels and dimes on the ground for little black children to pick up. And when the black children stood up again, the wealthy white people would rub the top of the children's heads — for luck. Larry's grandmother always told him, "Don't you ever — don't you ever do that." When Larry was 10 or 12 years old, she explained why he must never pick up those coins. Picking up the coins resulted in a lack of dignity; the dignified way to act was to turn your back on those coins.

• While Andre Previn was married to Mia Farrow, he belonged to the Garrick Club. One day, the club secretary invited him to bring Mia to dinner there, but added, "By the way, you must forgive me for this, but she can't use the main staircase. The women have to go round the back." This shocked Mr. Previn, and when he told his wife about the invitation — and about women not being allowed to use the main staircase — she replied, "You have 10 minutes in which to quit the club." Fortunately, he had the perfect reply: "I've already done it." Years later, Mr. Previn said, "Unbelievable. Mia was the wrong person to try that on."

• Resisting evil is a good deed. In 1955, Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi, apparently because he, a 14-year-old African-American male, was thought to have flirted with a white woman. His mother chose to fight back by insisting on an open casket at Emmett's funeral so that everyone could see how brutally he had been murdered. In addition, Jet magazine published photographs of Emmett's battered body. The publicity about the murder helped get support for the Civil Rights Movement, which led to many improvements in American society.

• In "Chappell's Show," comedian Dave Chappell attacked racism by playing such characters as a white supremacist who happened to be blind as well as black. Unfortunately, although most people recognized that racism was the real target of the subversive humor, some racists took it literally and congratulated Mr. Chappell for holding the same views that they did. Mr. Chappell was so shocked that he stopped making his TV show and stopped making the millions of dollars that went with making his TV show.

• In 1946, British comedian George Formby and Beryl, his wife, went on tour in South Africa. There, they entertained black audiences and even embraced adorable (and adoring) black children. Because South Africa was following the segregationist policy of apartheid, Daniel Fran ois Malan, who was then the leader of the South African National Party, became angry at the non-racist actions of George and Beryl. When he complained about how George and Beryl were acting, Beryl told him, "P*ss off, you horrible little man."