Essay On Stereotypes And Abusive Opinions

Racial stereotypes have always been a serious issue in society. The stereotypes impact many aspects of our life. We more or less get carried away by our perceptions toward race, and judge people in a certain frame unconsciously, as Omi set forth in In Living Color: Race and American Culture. Taken by Hilary Swift, this photo presents an African American woman, waiting for a bus that can take her to the Kitchen of Love, a food pantry that located in Philadelphia aiming to feed people suffering from hunger, where she volunteers. It happens in dawn so it’s still dark outside. The surroundings give us an idea that it should take place in a black neighborhood (Stolberg “Black Voters, Aghast at Trump, Find a Place of Food and Comfort”). The woman is staring at the direction where the bus is coming, with a smile on her face. As a photojournalistic image, this photo is aiming to portrait a kind and helpful African American woman, however, does this photo really “positively” portrait an African American woman?

College is a time when most individuals are experiencing major changes and begin to explore new perspectives. The transition in becoming more independent, creating new insights and peer influence are key factors in changing the perspective of an individual. Students are faced with new ideas from their professors, family and fellow peers. Through that acquired knowledge many students decide that they either agree or disagree with the perspectives that they are taught. Allowing the right of ‘Free Speech’ on public college campuses has become an important issue that many public colleges are starting to address. In college students are capable of

Freedom of speech is a fundamental American freedom and a human right, and there’s no place that this right should be more valued and protected than in colleges and universities. A college exists to educate and to advance a student 's knowledge. Colleges do so by acting as a “marketplace of ideas” where ideas compete. It is important to be able to compare your ideas with everyone else as it helps to open your mind to other people’s views and can give you a different perception on things. In the article “The Coddling of the American Mind,” Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukiankoff talked about how too many college students engage in “catastrophizing," which is in short, the overreaction to something. They also said that “smart people do, in fact, overreact to innocuous speech, make mountains out of molehills, and seek punishment for anyone whose words make anyone else feel uncomfortable.”(Haidt) Many colleges have the belief that prohibiting freedom of speech will resolve such issues. But instead, colleges should take a different approach on the matter by teaching students how to properly utilize their Freedom of Speech which will help to resolve future conflicts and misunderstandings.

One of the most landmark cases on free speech was Schenck v. United States in 1919 where Charles Schenck mailed letters to draftees of World War 1 stating that the draft was wrong and to “not submit to intimidation”. The court concluded that Schenck was not protected under the 1st amendment in this situation because it was an attempt interfere with the draft which is a criminal offense. More specifically, there has been many cases involving college speech in the 1st amendment. There has been times where college speech has been restricted through history and times where it has been encouraged. College is a place where student speech should be open but also respected. There are many famous court cases involving fan profanity, student clubs, the newspaper, on college campuses. One of the first college speech cases was Sweezy v New Hampshire where the court had to decide if the Attorney General of New Hampshire could prosecute an individual who refused to answer questions about a lecture he gave on a college campus. The court ruled in favor of Sweezy. College speech became an issue ever since that

Additionally, this chapter identifies some fears that college students may face when taking writing classes, especially at the time of working on an essay. Most of the time, these terrors are the product of non-factual or misleading beliefs from students that have not taken a writing class yet, however, it plays an important decision making when enrolling to take writing classes.

Second, college students should be heard, supported and even refuted. When hate speech is allowed on campuses, students and faculty can state different problems that are taboo in real world. When the “hate” is out, students express their points of view and sometimes issues that are not being solved. For me, hate speech is a way that as college student we can be heard and different issues can be solved.

The founding fathers made free speech the First Amendment not to protect popular speech, but for the protection of unpopular speech that goes against the views of the majority. In the United States, colleges are a form of higher education beyond high school where students go further themselves for their future careers. While at college, students engage in debates that will either reaffirm or make them rethink their own beliefs, in turn making students active and engaged US citizens. However, recently an emergence of calls for the regulation of speech have gained popularity across US campuses. These people seek to regulate speech to keep students from taking offense from speech in order to promote an inclusive and diverse college environment. Colleges have a responsibility to maintain a welcoming environment for all students on campus regardless of their race or religion. However, questions to how

Freedom of speech is necessary for freedom to think, criticize, debate, listen, and understand one another. It is a staple of tolerance and diversity – both 21st century aspirations of universities across America, including our own.

So much of what we do, say and feel is based on context (Kellner). In one group somethings are acceptable while the same actions or words in another group are not. Dropping an F-bomb at the bar with your friends is much different than during a job interview or perhaps in front of your mother. The context for viewing this movie is a class where we look for and acknowledge the stigma of racial stereotypes as presented by media. People, for the most part, do not go to the movies thinking about stereotypes or racism.

Theoretical Perspective There are three arguments for free speech which is Democratic Government, Search for Truth, and Autonomy. According to Utm.org “The first philosophical justification of free speech is that free speech is essential for the proper functioning of a democratic government. An environment of open debate and dialogue will give lawmakers the opportunity to critically examine possible public policies of every variety. Democracy involves a wide spectrum of opinions about what is best for society, and it is impossible for law makers to act on them all” (Utm.org). This can also be applied to college campuses.

Stereotypes or widely held and oversimplified beliefs about a person or thing have both pros and cons and we are all guilty of using them. Although they have made life easier by helping us quickly navigate the world and have helped us understand different cultures’ norms and values they can also turn sour when they undermine a culture by portraying them in a negative light. Negative stereotypes about African Americans are an example of this. Today’s culture is filled with stereotypes about African Americans. For instance, according to Welch (2007) “In American society, a prevalent representation of crime is that it is overwhelmingly committed by young Black men” (p. 276). Continuing on, Welch (2007) notes that “the image of a young Black male as a violent and menacing street thug is fueled and perpetuated by typifications everywhere” (p. 276). Such stereotypes can play a major role in how one views a particular group and if one is part of that in group, how they might view themselves.

College is supposed to be a place where students can share their opinions according to Michael Melia in his editorial “At U.S colleges, a failing grade in free speech.” Melia believes freedom of speech is an essential part of every college experience; however, administrators and students are censoring that free speech in order to preserve the feelings of others. The college administrators and students want to provide a safe space for all of the students, but Melia believes keeping students safe is also keeping their intellect underdeveloped. Although many would say they agree with Melia, I don’t believe he understand the consequences of free speech.

As we all know, there are only negative things to say about stereotype. When someone stereotype a certain thing about you, such as race or gender, it can impact negatively on your performance. Stereotype can happen to any race and it is unfortunate that it still exists. Societies created the negative and positive stereotypes that most of us were victims to one. I was a victim of negative stereotypes than the positive stereotypes. Because I’m Asian, people expect me to be a prodigy at math. I had a classmate asked me for help, but I didn’t know the answers to it. The first thing he says was, “but you’re asian”. Because of this and what the society expect, I felt pressure to do well in math. Beside education, people stereotype me for my height.

Hi Stacy, this was an interesting article to read. I, too, found an article on free speech about college students and their rights to speak concerning the First Amendment. I believe in speaking up and speaking out, for what’s right. Moreover, I agree with Greg Lukianoff when he mentions college and universities will succeed if they help students to understand the importance of free speech, by being good models. Also, a good point you make is, students should tolerate and allow key speakers to attend their colleges and allow them to speak. Good article!

A prior thing that students go to college for is to become educated , free speech pays a important role in this. This right allows college students to spread their ideas so that other people will understand them and their perspective. They don't always have to be on the same page but they get the other side of the story expanding their knowledge and understand where the other person is coming from. We all don't have the same thoughts and aren't expected to agree with everything ,we all have different opinions. Freedom of speech is like a book , you want to read it all the way it was exactly written. Just like a book you will get something out of it, in some sort of sense.