Social Stereotypes in America Essay

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?

Stereotyping wasn't a big problem when living in Texas. Living in Wisconsin was a whole different story. People find it offensive, and it could end up being racist. Always remember what is being said to others and how careful one has to be. Even if they know what people are saying just for fun and no harm is intended, people can take it to another measure. Nothing shouldn't be done period and we shouldn't allow it.

Racial stereotypes more or less affect our perceptions toward race, and judge people in a certain frame unconsciously, as Omi set forth in In Living Color: Race and American Culture. It greatly impact the images of minorities on the visual media, which the most direct medium to reflect the popular beliefs. Even though the “racist beliefs” have “just recently being reversed”, the portrayal of minorities on visual media is still not exemplary (Horton, et al “PORTRAYAL OF MINORITIES IN THE FILM, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES”).

As I begin to type this essay, I cannot help but feel an oquet barcode over my head. This barcode, having been with me since birth, contains all of the terms used to describe me: Muslim, Brown skinned, Arab American. These terms, a result of the natural human characteristic to categorize what we see, are fallible, inaccurate, and potentially dangerous. For example, because of these terms entire groups of people can become labeled to certain attributes. As an Arab American, people assume many things about before I even speak with them.It is hard to have a different view of people when all you see or hear of them are from indirect sources such as the media, whose priority object is to make profit, even if it requires the creation of a twisted

Racial profiling increased drastically for Arabs and Muslims following the attack on September 11, 2001. As a result of this tragedy, many began to associate Arabs and Muslims as evildoers. They were seen to as sinister individuals who hijacked airplanes with bombs attached to their body. However, Muslims and Arabs are not the only victims of racial profiling. Hispanics and African Americans have experienced this same treatment due to the color of their skin. This could result from the belief that whites are treated with respect, royalty, and luxury. Because of America’s history, and the decade of enslavement, African Americans are defined as “slaves and dirty animals” whereas Hispanics were stereotyped to have the career as housemaids and farmer workers with the nickname “wetbacks”. Such depictions of these individuals are still an issue in today’s society.

People purposely will insult or judge someone based off of their appearance. One example of this happening is after the tragedy of 9/11/01. After a terrorist attack occurred by Al Qaeda, people looked at Middle Easterners differently. In many 9/11 documentaries, they filmed inside religious places of Muslims. Phone calls and messages from mad Americans filled their religious places with threats and hate messages. Because of these innocent peoples religion, they were stereotyped as a terrorist; although they may have no affiliation with a terrorist group.

“LeBron is a beast,” is a common statement his fans say after the 6’8” 250 pound world-class athlete streaks down the basketball court, powers through defenders, and viscously dunks the ball, then stares down the opponent’s bench. There is no denying LeBron James is a fantastic athlete. He considered one of the best basketball players on the planet. He became not only a savoir figure for Cleveland, but an NBA all-star sensation known worldwide for his skills and his shoes. James has been prevalent in sports media dating back to his high school years when he made the decision to skip college and go straight to the NBA. He was on an NBA cover back then, and now I would like to present you a 2008 cover that presents a blatant stereotype of African Americans.

In today's society, those incidents have become normalized behavior towards many Arab Americans. People with Arabic sounding names often report experiencing some job discrimination and many anti-Arab comments (Cainkar, 2006). Additionally, some who look "Arab or Middle Eastern” have been physically attacked (Cainkar, 2006). In a report by Jadallah and El-Khoury, they noted most of their correspondents complained of racial profiling by the federal government and demonization in the media (Jadallah, 2010). Many of these prejudicial and racial actions appeared after the September 11th attacks and had become internalized in how American society views Arab Americans and

In this world there are many things people are guilty of, one of those guilt’s is stereotyping others , even if it wasn’t meant in a harmful are negative way we all have been a victim or the aggressor . This paper will discuses what stereotypes are, how they affect people and how stereotypes can affect society. However, the common factor in either situation is that no good comes from stereotyping others.

From watching the videos and reading the articles about the many different racists tropes that were/are part of American culture, I can see how much of a role that media plays in everyday life. Watching the Ethnic Notions documentary, I realized how racists tropes date all the way back before America was the America that we know now. During this time these tropes were used to justify why an oppression system was okay, and also to lower an entire group of people. It was interesting how there isn’t just one type of tropes in the world. I never knew that there were types such as Anti-Semitic tropes, but it’s so subtle compared to those that are racists. Even though it is subtle, it still carries much importance. Reading the article about “Space

Racism, stereotype, and prejudice are terms that have been around for centuries. These terms are often used out of context; however, each have their own distinct meanings, but all involve the devaluation of certain races. Racism is “a belief that race is the primary determination of human traits and capacities; and that racial differences produced an inherent superiority of a particular race”. Stereotype is “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image of a person”.1 Finally, the term prejudice refers to “a preconceived opinion not based on reason or actual experience”.1 Comprehension of these terms helps us light on the long and devastating history of racism in America.

Before people can appreciate, respect, and diminish the fear of different cultures; the representation of stereotypical views needs to eject from the media's portrayal. Cultural groups in U.S. Society need to have an unambiguous perceptive of what stereotyping means and how it appears. Namely, history, the media, and movies demonstrate stereotyping, and over time, it becomes part of a narrative and anticipates negative perceptions of minorities. Various cultures categorize as being wrong, evil, untrustworthy and deviating from the norm of the dominant culture. The inclination continues in several areas with bigotry and prejudice leading to violence and discrimination. Stereotyping regularly comes about because of prompts, biases, and fanaticism.

The violent ideology known as racism is defined by many as “the result of perceiving one group as superior over another” (Quoted in Keister and Darby, 284). This is when a dominant power in a society oppresses the minority power by prejudging the minorities attributes, commonly their race. When defining

Race, in particular, is an incredibly influential factor in the way we see and experience the world. Members of particular races have different standpoints than members of other races, which results in racism and the creation of stereotypes. One’s perception of a particular race is influenced by what they see and hear each day. An example of how the Standpoint Theory comes to play is when considering the recent attacks by the ISIS terrorist group, which predominantly consists of Arab Muslims. After hearing about it and seeing it all over the news, some people of races other than Arab, began to, if they hadn’t before, view and stereotype the entire Arab race as terrorists.

Aside from arising from mental shortcuts, it has also been proposed that stereotypes are a result of group conflict (Sherif, 1966). Regularly, individuals behave in a way that is expected of them in order to uphold the impressions others have of them. Thus, individuals act accordingly and embody the stereotype which is projected upon them (Baumeister & Bushman). The degree to which we rely on stereotypes when establishing judgements of others has been widely investigated in the field of social psychology. Frequently, the harmful consequences of relying on stereotypes is noted with the potential of this tendency to lead to prejudice and discrimination. Furthermore, the variation in the significance of stereotypes has been explored to determine