Cultural Differences Between African Identity And Stereotypes

Just because I am a son of a Muslim Man doesn’t mean I bombed the Twin Towers

When it comes to the topic of stereotypes, most of us will readily agree that each and everyone of us fits into at least one of them regarding our gender, age, race, and more. Where this agreement usually develops is on the question of whether or not we know how to respond to these stereotypes. Therefore, it can be said that the stereotypes imposed on one individual can cause him or her to stimulate personal insecurities as a young person. Yet, as they mature, they are able to realize that one can avoid this phase of self-deprecation by not embodying those negative stereotypes, thereby emphasizing that although one doesn’t have control of the stereotypes, they can still resist the negative impacts.

Between America and other European nations, stereotypes and misrepresentations have ultimately plagued the continent of Africa. To every side there is often another story, yet unfortunately for the many countries of Africa, they are ultimately victimized and suffer through further oppression. According to Curtis Keim’s book Mistaking Africa, Keim suggests that Africa is essentially under the public microscope, it tends to be scrutinized, and compared to European nations and America. Keim elaborates on human natures need to group people, places, and things, which creates the theory of superiority or dominance over races, cultures, and even religions.

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.

As we all know, African Americans did not originate from the United States. We were abducted from our homeland and brought here on slave ships by the hundreds. Before we were taken we were living a sustainable lifestyle that fit our basic needs. We ate fruits, vegetables, and meat from game that we hunted and gathered from the land. We also used herbs and natural remedies to cure us of our ailments instead of prescribed medication and radiation treatments. Today, many African Americans face countless health issues such as diabetes, asthma, HIV/aids, high blood pressure, obesity, and the list goes on. Many of these health issues come from the lack of education of our past, where we reside, and many stereotypes that are embedded in us in society.

In my graduating class, there were seven girls: four Arabs, one Somali, one Bengali, and myself, an African American who also has Ethiopian heritage. While in high school, I continuously dealt with a majority of my classmates, as well as some teachers, making remarks that I considered to be racially offensive and made me quite uncomfortable.

African Americans are underrepresented in various aspects of American society. On television I am bombarded with commercials, cartoons and other genres of visual entertainment and one fact is prominent, there are few African Americans seen on television. When Blacks are on television it is a criminal on the news or single Black person to meet the diversity quota of the network or not at all. Though some will argue that cartoons should not be in this category for the simple fact that they are understood to not have a race I disagree. When there is a fairy with light pink skin and Caucasian features that represents a Caucasian individual. Many times there are no cartoon with brown skinned characters which, in my opinion is a tragedy. Children

I absolutely agree with you LaQueisha! Especially, at my work I see this happening all to often from your examples. Constantly, I see a higher expectation for Asian Americans rather than African Americans when doing their job. From what you said in your post and what I mentioned, could it be the results of negative self-image inflicting this negative stereotype being placed on these two groups? This kind of stereotyping based on the assumption that Asian Americans have more education than African Americans is inappropriate. With that said, I know a few African American co-workers who I work, with that went to college and got their masters. I sometimes think that cumulative causation may have something to do with or has

African Americans are often portrayed on television unfavorably. According to previous research, television often presents African Americans in stereotypical roles. These unfavorable representations can have an influence on the perceptions of viewers. Research indicates that television viewers have used these images as indications of real portrayals of life and of others, causing viewers to rely on these stereotypical images in face-to-face interactions. Although prior studies have considered the impact that these images have had in the minds of people different from the images, little research has considered how images of African Americans have influenced the perceptions of African Americans. This proposed study was designed to focus on the

Over the years, stereotyping has reached an all-time high especially in this contemporary society. Everyone is stereotyped in different ways whether it is their race, religion,  gender or culture  and unfortunately this only results in negative outcomes.For example African Americans are stereotyped as violent and wild individuals that are uneducated gang bangers, but the real question is how did this stereotype come about and why is it still relevant today? In the movie "Crash it gives great examples of stereotyping and prejudice behavior towards different racial groups. They had two different examples of  a group of people that are the same race living completely different lifestyles. What people fail to realize

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.

In the U.S, stereotyping is alive and functioning well. A stereotype is a widely held fixed and a simplified idea or image of a given type of a person or a thing. It has been rampant in the country and it has a negative impact. Stereotyping occurs when people judge others based on their gender, their job, their cultural, religious or ethnic background. It has resulted in unfair discrimination of people in the country. People also miss important aspects of the people they stereotype (Inzlicht et al., 230). Through stereotyping, people are not able to achieve their full potential and the country's social development slows down. There are many suggestions that have been placed forward in an effort to end stereotyping,

As an African American we have so many stereotypes of how an African American community should be. We strive for solidarity on so many topics like family, church, politics, and culture. When we do not act the same we get shamed in our own community for not acting black enough. These stereotypes are too limiting, because not everyone is the same. We should not be categorized by our community or what anybody else think is right. Traditionally and stereotypically, in the African-American community we ascribe to a certain definition of "blackness." These traditions and stereotypes surface in phrases like "acting black," "talking black," etc. What does your not acting black even mean, some people pass it around like it is supposed to a trait or characteristic.

1. I was very surprised how the man treated the woman in the video. My initial reaction when the man asked the woman where her “people” were from, I felt that was very disrespectful. However, I enjoyed how she was able to take when he said and repeat the same thing back to him. It was funny how she took the characteristics of his family background and made him feel uncomfortable. After watching the clip, it made me more aware of the common stereotypes of different cultures. Whenever we see a person who looks Asian, we tend to stereotype them to get a sense of where they are from. Maybe they are from China, Japan, Korea, or another part of the Asian culture. I believe these types of interactions are common. My mom has an accent, sometimes when I am out with her or when a service repair worker comes to our house they ask where she is from. I can admit that I stereotype in my mind when I see a person who looks like they are from a different country. However, I have never vocalized stereotypical thoughts. It is always surprising when an individual proves a stereotype to be wrong.

The word stereotype can be defined as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Stereotypes can be found everywhere, from schools to our views on the world. There are many stereotypes about Africans and Africa as a whole, and just like a majority of all stereotypes, they couldn’t be more wrong.