Black Childhood Stereotypes

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary stereotype is:”to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same”. An example is say that all Mexicans are bad, or that all Cubans are crazies. Of course this is not true; there are good and bad people everywhere, no matter race, culture or believe.

Over the past decade disciplinary issues in the schools have increased. Children are no longer showing respect to those in authority. This problem has caused students to not only decrease in their academic achievement but also decrease in their real world social development. African Americans are amongst one ethnicity group to experience bias. In the context of school discipline, race and gender stereotypes particularly function to criminalize African American youth and to reinforce cultural beliefs about perceived inherent behavioral deficiencies and African American cultural norms in need of “social correction” (George, 2014). African Americans are placed in the stereotypical norm of having discipline problems in the schools. Especially African American girls. In a 2014 national data report, African American girls accounted for 12% of all suspensions (George, 2014). With that being said, African American girls are suspended at least “six times the rate of white girls and more than any other group of girls and several groups of boys.” (George, 2014) This is a huge problem in our schools that needs to be addressed.

Stereotypes seem to be very present in our country, especially stereotypes towards African-Americans. For the longest time, like it has been instilled as a fact in my brain, black people have been directly related to the words “ghetto” or “hood”. I don’t remember a time where I actually can remember the words “ghetto” or “hood” without the picture in my mind of an African-American person. I think that this is a big problem in today’s society because it is not true but still seems to be taught. In politics, society, and everyday life, it feels like African-American’s are being slammed for being hoodlums. This is a problem because there are millions of African-American people who do not fit this stereotype, but still get degraded and treated badly because of this age old belief.

African Americans have been oppressed ever since slavery was abolished and it seems to be a never-ending cycle. White Americans oppressed the black population because they needed a way to remind everyone of their so-called supremacy. They did this through many different ways but the most common were by theatrical performances. Ever since the minstrelsy shows the negative stereotypes of African Americans seem to keep growing. According to the book Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks, “in almost every American movie in which a black had appeared, filmmakers had been trying to maintain the myth that Negroes were naturally rhythmic and natural-born entertainers.”

A stereotype is a popular belief about specific types of individuals. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups based on some prior assumptions. African Americans have been perceived to be someone they are not in the media, history, and in everyday life. Although some stereotypes are true, many are harmful and inaccurate.

During this time more than ever, African Americans are able to speak on subjects that can affect us in the future. Growing up, racial profiling was never a big deal to me or my family. I was taught to never judge someone by how they look but upon their actions. Ironic to think that is how one is taught to act but stereotypes are now bigger than ever right? Being a high school student I never payed much attention to anything outside of sports, academics and what crazy adventure me and my friends would be sucked into the upcoming weekend. I didn’t have an opinion when surveys asked if I felt that I wasn't being treated equally to my fellow American classmate with all the same qualities I held. Race itself was never something I viewed another

For many years there has been a lot of talk about what Africans think of African Americans and sometimes most of it isn't in the most positive light, and vice versa. As a Black American myself I want to delve deep into this argument that has been going back and forth for years. I feel that it is important for Africans and African Americans to understand each other, learn from each other because there are only certain things that are mainly different about each group but at the end of the day we are the same.

After watching Verna Myers speak about African Americans, one could see the pure justice in her eyes. For some, this video made them take a step back and realize just how biased our world currently is. In all categories of life, each human being has been negatively stereotyped in their own way. In life I have really only experienced one circumstance of being negatively stereotyped and that was being not only physically a female, but a human who has multiple tattoos. Every time it is mentioned or spotted that there is ink on the skin, ones assumptions of having any potential of being in the professional work force goes out the window. The catch is even with mine being on my sides and being hidden 24/7, the looks of disgrace and the thought of I have no potential of getting a real career still happens. Tattoos have become to where it has their own stereotype questions and comments like, “You are going to regret those when you get older,”

African American males’ cultural identity has been shaped by stereotypes placed on them down through history. Some stereotypes associated with African American males include incompetence, laziness, and aggression. African American males’ academic performance is often affected because of these stereotypes (Irving & Hudley, 2008). The literature generally concludes that African American male students’ educational aspirations, occupational expectations, cultural identity, and attitudes toward school are related to academic achievement (Irving & Hudley, 2008). Cultural mistrust for African Americans revolves around their belief that public schools cannot be trusted to provide an adequate education when the schools they attend are

I believe that I contribute to fostering an inclusive and welcoming community on campus by being myself. As an African American, there is a lack of the artsy-nerdy types represented in our culture. By being myself, I’m taking part in the growing population of the diverse types of African Americans that exist. For our society, when it comes to the minorities, we focus primarily on the stereotypes given to a specific group of people. For example, all African Americans are lumped up into two categories: the criminal and the one who acts white. By being myself, I prove this standard wrong by demonstrating to other racial groups that African Americans can and are different. We are free to have likes and dislikes, speech patterns, economic status,

Another behavioural tendency that exposes one as a racist would be if one is verbally abusive, threatening, or ridiculing while using derogatory language towards a particular group of people in the community based on their race and cultural belief and practices. Stereotypical comments and racist propaganda such as symbols, signs, and graffiti is another form of behavioural character of a racist. For example, many stereotypes have a belief that all Asians know martial arts such as Kung Fu and that they all come from China. Similarly, most stereotypes believe that an African American’s first instinct is to fight or kill someone if they do not see eye to eye typically because they believe that all African Americans come from poor and violent backgrounds.

Since the 1900’s the media has been used to deliver, throughout the nation, negative racial stereotypes about black Americans that have been shaping a distorted image of African Americans. In the 1940s, caricature such as: the mammy, the sambo, the coon, the uncle, and the pickaninny, were the most popular distorted portrayals of black Americans. This misrepresentation of black Americans have been used for the advantage of the white supremacy and politics for centuries. The media's continuing distortion of black American’s image still is a problem of the present.

Humans have a natural instinct to try to understand unfamiliar demographics based on information displayed to them via media outlets and other people; this instinct is called stereotyping. Stereotypes are "cognitive structures that contain the perceiver 's knowledge, beliefs, and expectations about human groups" (Green). Stereotypes have been proven to affect young adolescents. Media depicts African Americans in stereotypical ways that negatively affect self-esteem, therefore all media outlets should display African Americans in a more realistic and rational way.

Everything isn't as plain as black and white. It's a matter of gray, or color. When we think of grays, we picture big-headed black eyes teetering on scrawny bodies. Terms modeled after the extraterrestrial idea are alien species. A species that has been introduced to living outside its native distribution range, whether accidental or deliberate. When we think of color we imagine something close to Skittles--"taste the rainbow"--imagination or racism. The modern victim of racism, African-Americans, we're forced from their native land and ended up thriving on alien territory where they were despised by the minority--hence, the Three-Fifths Compromise. They were the alien species introduced to living outside their native land, deliberately.

As the times progress, social expectations began to change with them. One thing that people have began to adopt is the “ carefree lifestyle “. The lifestyle where you are more open to being yourself socially amongst other people. Numerous lives has benefited towards this new change and became better for it. Although this change has grew and touched many lives, there are still many people who wishes to make this transition but simply don’t what steps to take for it to come to fruition. Specifically black boys who have had the burden of numerous stereotypes placed on their shoulders. Luckily for them, I know six easy steps to have them living the carefree black boy in a matter of weeks.