Stereotypes

According to Dictionary.com, stereotypes are "a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group."

Stereotypes are usually used to offend or make someone that belongs to an ethnic group feel inferior.  


 Here are a couple of commonly known stereotypes:

African American (Black)
1. Good at Basketball and running 
2. Lazy, poor,carefree, and on welfare
3. Criminals and violent behavior
4. Love to eat Fried Chicken and watermelon
5. Uneducated and savage-like
6. Mammy (Aunt Jemima), Welfare Queen, and Jazz musicians

Latino/ Hispanics 
1. Illegal, criminals, and involved in gangs
2. Cannot speak English well or any at all
3. Have sex all the time
4. Uneducated, poor and on welfare
5. Many children and extended family live in one household
6. Are Mexican, maids, landscapers, or janitors

Asians 
1. Drive really slow
2. Short
3. Smart
4. Know Kung-Fu and own a nail salon
5. Strict parents and very traditional
6. Are Chinese 

Caucasian/ White 
1. Rich and Wealthy
2. Well Educated
3. Serial Killers or involved in the KKK
4. Conceded and prideful
5. Dumb blond, hillbillies, or always working to make money
6. Cold/ frigid people

 PEOPLE NEED TO STOP JUDGING INDIVIDUALS BASED ON STEREOTYPES

                          

Stop Stereotypes 

 

Racist or Just Too Picky?!

In Dr. Phill's Episode on "Dating Disasters", Lexi, an African American young lady is set up on three blind dates. Usually, Lexi chooses her dates according to how good looking the guy is. Personality is not important to her. She does not like black men and prefers white guys. Lexi does not care if her date treats her badly as long as he is "hot". 

Lexi's three blind dates were: Mike (white guy), Cash (African American), and (white guy).

As she goes on her blind dates, Lexi is blind folded and is expected to choose a date according to personality not looks. Lexi tries to cheat and asks her dates questions that would give her hints to see if he was black.

In the end, Lexi decides to stay with the guy that she did not have the best time with because she knew he was black. Was her decision racist or is she just too picky? 

"Whiteness"

So what exactly is "whiteness"? Is it a race or is it also someone's ethnicity? 

"Whiteness" has do with having access to power and privileges.Rights become privileges when they are denied to others based on their ethnicity or racial classification. If someone is asked to make a list of the things they like about their ethnicity the list would look something like this: I like the family and community aspect, food, music, and holiday traditions. If someone that considers themselves as being "white" is asked what they like about being "white", their list would look something like this: I like being white because I can live in a safe community, I am trusted and seen as innocent, I can get a good education, and I don't get stopped by the police randomly. 

The list made by the individuals of why they like being white include a list of privileges that come with being "white" not cultural or traditions that come with being "white". 

Noel Ignatiev's, How the Irish Became White, discusses how the Irish where discriminated against and were considered to be the inferior of the whites. The Irish Catholics were even more discriminated against because most of the white Europeans were Protestant. At one point, the Irish were seen as less than the black slaves because the slaves were "white property" and the Irish were not even worth "caring for".  

The idea of the Melting Pot was to make everyone equal and that everyone "melted" into one. The only people that were allowed to fully  "melt" were the white Europeans. The Native Americans and African Americans were never allowed to fully "melt". 

The Irish eventually became "white" when they gave up their ethnicity. "Whiteness" is based on power, socioeconomic status not based on culture.The Irish assimilation explains that their "white colored skin" was the only marker that was similar to the other Europeans. Their ethnic markers were seen as" bad" or "less than other Europeans". 

Branch Out!

“Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I want to challenge everyone that reads this to reach out and experience a different culture other than their own. If and only when people get out of their own comfort zones, ordinary routines, and lifestyles will they be able to see and get to know and try to understand someone else. People place unnecessary barriers and walls that are determined by skin colors, cultures, traditions, religions, ages, genders, and even  languages. These differences should not be seen as threats but strengths that enhance the human race.

What Would You Do?

The ABC News "What Would You Do?" series tests human nature through hidden camera scenarios. John Quiñones is the host of the series that place normal people in ethical dilemmas. These scenarios include issues that deal with gender, ethnicity, age, disabilities, religion, and other controversial and provocative situations which examine many aspects of humanity. If and only when people are placed in similar or identical situations will they discover if they will stand up against injustice or just ignore it.

In this episode, there are three white teenage boys that try to break into a car and begin to vandalize it. The car is in a public park where many people are walking, running, or just passing by. There are only a few people that stand up against the vandalizers. 

 

In the second part of the episode, they exchange the three white teenagers with three black teenagers. The results and reactions of the people in the park are surprising and distinctively different.

 

After watching these two movie clips, I began to think and analyze the two scenarios and how the teenagers' "race" is the only factor that impacts what people will and will not do.The reactions are unjust because the two groups of teenagers are not treated in the same manner even though they were both vandalizing a car. It was shocking to know that there were 911 emergency phone calls to report two African American young men sleeping rather than reporting the white teenage vandals. 

It is easy to say one is going to do the right thing or stand up against injustice.The difficult part is actually taking action. I want to challenge you to think through these scenarios and really think about what would you have done if you witnessed either scenario.