How does education affect behaviors stemming from prejudice?

Prejudice and racism are caused by ignorance. Bigots do not understand the people that they hate. Not understanding something causes fear, and fear leads to hate. Education helps people learn more about other people, so that they will not fear and hate them. Of course, many bigots do not want to be educated because they like hating and fearing the other person, or they at least feel justified in doing so.

But education works both ways on this. If you were raised in a bigoted home, then you would be educated into bigotry. Likewise, the hard lessons of life could be a teacher. For instance, you might live in a low-income neighborhood with people outside your ethnic group. They may mistreat you. They may be acting upon the conditions of poverty, but if you didn't know better, you might draw an incorrect conclusion that their race is somehow causing their behavior. But it would be the conditions of poverty, as well as any racism or resentment coming back the other way, not anyone's race itself.

So education works in both directions. Good education can reduce bigotry, while the wrong kind can increase it.