Essay about Racial Stereotypes: Not Simply Black and White

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?

“I've never felt this unsafe living in the United States... I can't even imagine what it's like for the people living overseas.”

The media in our lives has the strongest impact on our everyday conversations, actions, judgments and perception on society as a whole. Without our modern day technology the world would result to judgments based on their own personal beliefs, not being so easily persuaded by others. The contemporary media portrays Black and Hispanic Americans in numerous positive ways, but more so in a negative light. The stereotypes that these minorities have been given not only affect the community as a whole, but the personal lives of each individual. Although the media can be used for good, the captivating movies, news stories, and documentaries seem to have a negative outcome. The medias focus on Black and Hispanic Americans has not always been bad, but the stereotypes that have developed over the decades shed a negative light on these two racial and ethnic groups.

In American society, a widespread depiction of crime is that it is mostly committed by Black men. Many Americans have the image of a young Black male as violent and criminal. “In fact, perceptions about the presumed racial identity of criminals may be so ingrained in public consciousness that race does not even need to be specifically mentioned for a connection to be made between the two because it seems that ‘talking about crime is talking about race’” (Welch, 2007, p. 276). Subsequently, the stereotypical image of African Americans being violent and criminals, has been unfairly integrated into society that even when people do not think they are thinking about race, they might actually be thinking about race. When people are thinking about crime they are interrelating that with race.

The researcher began by asking the question what factors contribute to the stereotyping of black men as “dangerous and criminal”. And the researcher found out that although media influence stereotyping of this sort, it's only smaller part of the larger problem. There is a general tendency in the media to over-represent African-American as criminal; portray black men as particularly dangerous, and present information about black suspect that assume their guilt. However, even when crime featuring black and white criminal suspects is presented in equitable ways in the media, viewers’ existing stereotypes can result in biased interpretations that may serve to maintain racial stereotypes nevertheless. The researcher conclude that, viewers’ selective perception and interpretation of media content suggest that equitable media portrayals of race in crime-related programming may not be sufficient to address the concerns presented here.

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.

This article begins by reviewing the literature highlighting the ways crime news typically reinforces stereotypes of blacks and other nonwhites, particularly Latinos, and contributes to more generalized racial biases. Media stereotypes consist of recurring messages that associate persons of color with traits, behaviors, and values generally considered undesirable, inferior, or dangerous. In terms of speaking about crime coverage, there is considerable evidence that media portray blacks and Latinos as criminal and violent. These images matter because they are a central component in the on going cycle by which the media adds racial and ethnic misunderstanding and negative associations are reproduced, and end up in predictable influences in the criminal-justice process.

There are many stereotypes in this world that we live in, whether they’re about race, sex, social class, etc, they are pretty much everywhere. Everyone is labeled through either negative or positive stereotypes. We are stereotyped by who we hang out with, what we look like and our actions. Stereotypes are insults that we hear everyday at school. People often as well use stereotypes as a way of humor, but how big of a toll do stereotypes take in a person’s life?

In today’s world, there are all kinds of stereotypical comments that people have to deal with. We take the concept of judging others for granted. If you peak into your past and recall how many times you have assumed the outcome before weighing all the circumstances. There are a large percentage of people that make quick opinions about people, events, and nationalities based on their little knowledge. In our society, assuming is a common problem. The public has a problem of coming to a conclusion based on just the person’s appearance. In your lifetime, you all must have stereotyped a person knowingly or unknowingly. Stereotyping is considered to be a problem because it can lead to a conclusion based merely on a person’s appearance and surroundings. But these aspects should not matter when making an opinion about a person. The movie Crash shows the authenticity of how people negatively stereotype each other’s race and ethnicity. It also shows how people are racist towards each other because of their different race. Stereotypes and mistrust are considered to be barriers that inhibit interracial relationships among people.

Harper Lee once said,“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." People have all different levels and types of education, background, and experiences, which can greatly influence their opinion on everything. Learning to see other people’s perspective can increase empathy and understanding, a tool that can be wielded to better relationships in a family, work, or school environment.

Most people find stereotypes to be obnoxious, especially when they have to do with sensitive subjects like gender or race. “Stereotyping is a generalization about a group or category of people that can have a powerful influence on how we perceive others and their communication behaviors” (Floyd, 61). Because they underestimate the differences among individuals in a group, stereotyping can lead to inaccurate and offensive perceptions of other people. Although stereotypes are prevalent in almost every society, becoming aware of our perceptions of others, as well as differentiating between both positive and negative stereotypes can help us overcome those stereotypes.

Stereotypes and prejudice are comprehended as related but different concepts in social psychology. A stereotype is a cognitive representation of a social group that humans construct by associating specific attributes and emotions with the group, whereas, prejudice is the pure positive or negative evaluation of this social group. In more recent literature, much attention has been given to the dependency of implicit stereotyping and implicit prejudice and their different implications in human behaviour.

Prejudice is something that is spoken of often, but hardly has anything done to stop it. Seeing prejudicial acts often leave me with an uneasy feeling in my stomach; making me want to do something to stop them. Sadly, there has been very few actual times I have stepped in to protect people are being brutally attacked for reasons they cannot help. Countless times many people will do the same as me; just sit back watching terrible things happen to good people. In my lifetime alone I have witnessed many acts of prejudicial behavior, whether on television or in person there is no excuse for that type of behavior.

A ding sounded overhead signaling that they were able to move freely around the cabin. The nose was followed by the movement of several other rushing to the laboratory. Thea looked at the woman sitting next to her, on her phone looking at cat photos.

Stereotypes in short, are often about seeking patterns. It cannot be helped but to use them as not only a function in society, but also as a way to understand it as humans today are known to identify well with patterns. This question will be explored using the following areas of knowledge; human sciences and history. As well as using the above areas of knowledge to explore this question, ways of knowing, in particular, emotion, perception, language and reason, will be used in conjunction. Taking the story of Gandhi as a prime example, it is important on two levels; most importantly however, the way in which it exposes not only the negative cultural stereotype of the “stupid foreigner”, but how at the same time it undermines and