Stereotypes In The Achievement Of Desire By Richard Rodriguez

Society will continue to judge humanity based on race, culture, and intelligence. Stereotypes affect how citizens determine their future. Demonstrated in the excerpt “The Hunger of Memory,” Richard Rodriguez faces stereotypes when he travels to the United States to achieve a higher education. Likewise, in the essay “Superman and Me,” Sherman Alexie is assumed to be less intelligent based of his ethnic background. Both of these authors’ futures are influenced differently based off the prejudice situations they face. Whereas Rodriguez perceives differences as continuing in a stereotypical humanity, Alexie perceives differences as expanding beyond stereotypical standards.

Stereotypes are this planet’s number one flaw. Not all of them are bad, but what do most people think when they hear that word? When I hear it, my mind jumps to every single negative thing I can think off. Such as our current crisis right now about “Black Lives Matter” or anything racial for that matter. Other examples that pop up in my head are, “He wears black, he must be emo/goth”, “She’s a teen mom, she’s trashy and irresponsible”, or “Women are terrible drivers”. The thing is, science doesn't back up any of these stereotypes; although these may be true in certain cases. There is not just negative things that come out of this, stereotypes can ACTUALLY be good for you.

Stereotypes are always around. Everywhere, everyday. The truth is that there is no escaping it. Walking down the school hallways sounds of the people around echo endlessly. “Nerd,” someone yells. “Loser!” Another student boldly pronounces. Not one individual in the world enjoys being called mean things, or being labeled with a negative stereotype. Would someone give up the some of the things that they love to make a negative stereotype disappear? Would someone go as far as changing their identity because of a stereotype? Why? People change their identity when they are negatively stereotyped because they are either seen as something that they don't want to be seen as, or they would rather fit in then be themselves.

In certain situations, stereotypes can be negative, which in hand, can harm certain ethnicities, racial groups, religions, and other backgrounds. This often alienates certain groups from mainstream societies, as if they are an "other." This further in hand can, lead to heated friction and division among groups, which is not a good thing, and is the "cancer" of a benevolent, developed society. Certain examples of negative (falsified) stereotypes are that African-Americans are violent, Asian-Americans are bad drivers, Latin-Americans can't speak English properly, Middle Easterners are misogynic, White Americans are racist, etc. Of course, these stereotypes in all cases are NOT true, yet sadly the general population tends to seek them as true.

I first wanted to look at how stereotypes about Latino immigrants influenced children, particularly in school systems. The article “Double Disadvantage or Signs of Resilience? The Elementary School Contexts of Children From Mexican Immigrant Families”, by Robert Crosnoe, examines the effect negative stereotyping has had on children of Latino immigrants, specifically in the education system. Children of Latino immigrants represent one of the fastest growing populations in the American education system (Crosnoe). Crosnoe claims that Latino children are also

Hispanic and Asian immigrant try to take advantage of this opportunity, these young immigrants are given the chance for a free education. The traditions and customs in the different households create an act of behavior for school. “Parental demands, fear of failure, competition and pride are fueling Asia's academic ascension” (Breitenstein para.7). This signifies that Asians are giving high pressure to do well in school which creates a base for the stereotype that Asians are above intelligent than other common races. Hispanics are not seen as highly academic compared to other races. These Hispanic immigrants are grown amongst the responsibility of taking care of their families. Work is the only route in order to create a source of money towards the payment of house needs and wants. Education is seen as optional rather than mandatory in this culture. “Students did not fail; schools failed students” (Acuna para.1). Through education, Hispanics are not seen as potential candidates for academic success. Hispanics are educated in order to fit the standard stereotype of being of a lower class and only having the ability of labor work. Stereotypes of Hispanics and Asians create the idea of how society interprets these two cultures which can create dramatic affects in race

By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Stereotypes lead to social categorisation, which is one of the reasons for prejudice attitudes.

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will

There are people who judge each other by how they look, how they dress, how they talk, or even the language they speak. Sometimes one does it subconsciously. Growing up I couldn't rely on my parents to help me at home with my homework. It was up to me to figure it out. My parents didn't have the opportunity to finish high school. Even Though I knew my parents didn't go to school, I found them to be one of the strongest and smartest people I know. Coming to America, they had to learn a third language, English. My parents, much like Richard Rodriguez’s parents let their children go to school and did everything possible to help them get through school.

Furthermore, Astroff’s demonstration that stereotypes display a connection to a race’s genetic and national culture. Negative stereotypes are implying that failures or downfall of one person who happens to be a Latino, will showcase that the reason for their failures is their biological and geographical attributes. The hyper-visibility of this negative view will only fuel this toxic idea to hurt the progression of Latino’s presence in society.

In today’s society it has become a norm to make assumptions of an individual and categorize them into groups that fit them. This would be known as stereotyping, and it occurs everyday and almost everywhere. It can affect someone’s everyday life along with their emotions. A stereotype is a widely held idea or image of a a group of people and is based off of some truth, while misconceptions are based off no evidence at all. Stereotypes can either be positive or negative. Stereotypes exist because that’s how the human brain functions, they see something that repeats within a group of people and that’s how stereotyping begins. An example of a positive stereotype would be that African-Americans are very athletic. However, there can be some negative

There will always be expectations for Hispanics because of the stereotypes that are created, that are usually incorrect. As a Hispanic female, I have always been questioned about my life and my unique personality. There has not been a day where I haven’t been questioned about my life. Over the years, the amount of stereotypes of Hispanics has increased.

However, many Hispanic families were and in some cases, still are viewed as lower-class citizens. According to Barrientos, “To me, speaking Spanish translated into being poor. It meant waiting tables and cleaning hotel rooms. It meant being left off the cheerleading squad and receiving a condescending smile from the guidance counselor when you said you planned on becoming a lawyer or a doctor” (561). They are not respected in a lot of communities, they live dirty, and they have bad jobs. These stereotypes are reasons why Barrientos did not want to be called Mexican and never wanted to learn Spanish. If diversity had been celebrated when Barrientos was a child, as it is celebrated and honored now, she would have grown up speaking Spanish and being proud of her heritage.

. As people grow older and realize their racial, religious, and cultural groups, they tend to differentiate themselves from other groups. The main reason we develop stereotypes is because it is just human nature for us to categorize people. Stereotypes are a way to simplify groups of people and establish identities, especially when one doesn’t know much about the group (“Overcoming Stereotypes”).

The presences of stereotypes are overwhelming and are developed by both the environment a subject is raised in and their family. Stereotypes, which are pervasive throughout different societies, become intertwined in the collective values of the society as justification for all forms of social, economic, and political inequality among groups (Devine and Elliot 2000;Kaplan 2004; Operario and Fiske 2004). As people become more exposed to stereotypes they start to become a permanent part of a person’s life, they begin to stereotype themselves almost always involuntarily.