Will negative human prejudices ever end?

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Prejudices can come in positive or negative 'flavors'...and, perhaps even in varying degrees in between. Having positive prejudices about some things can, indeed, help us as a collective society, if they are promoted and taught and otherwise favored by the masses.

Negative prejudices can only 'help us' as a collective society to slide farther and faster down the slippery slope toward the ugliest side of humankind; that of hatred, bigotry, discrimination, selfishness, and other similar negative traits and behaviors.

One of the several definitions for the negative side of "prejudice" is: "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason".
(prejudice. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. -- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prejudice - (accessed: January 31, 2012).

Based on this definition, it might be that humans are not capable of being prejudice-free, in an overall sense. But, it should be noted that humans have already progressed quite far in some areas of negative prejudices, including those aimed toward racial, religious, nationality, sexual orientation, and a few others that have been 'identified-and-defined' by legislation in some areas of the world.

Unfortunately, some of these attempts at "legislation of morality" take years or decades to become evident, but that cannot be helped; there are just too many individuals in the world to expect anything else, I think. And, most of this kind of legislation only comes about after much pressure and protest and outcry by powerful and influential individuals and groups determined to make positive changes in the world. People like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, and numerous others, including the familiar prophets and spiritual leaders of yesteryear and today.

Many negative prejudices have been dealt with through national legislation, including laws against some forms of discrimination, certain hate-crime behaviors, and the like. However, I'm not sure the current laws go far enough, because we still see negative prejudices out there, I'm afraid. I believe some of the problems we're seeing with bullying in our schools and even our workplaces might even be rooted (in some cases) in certain negative prejudices and otherwise ill-conceived notions of one person toward others of a particular "ilk", be it related to the ones that have already been legislated on, or to others not yet ironed out in the presses of society.

I would rather that more legislation was not a necessity to better control and ultimately erase negative prejudices among people. But, it might be necessary, in order to bring the right kind of focus and attention to some of the things still needing more help in our world. Laws change with the times, and always will...until the day comes when all the "laws of goodness" are written upon the hearts of all humankind. Meanwhile, I think we'll have to continue writing them in articles, books and more legislation.