Stereotyping, Discrimination, And Discrimination

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.

Right outside a corner store, next to a stoplight, or at a park, there may be a homeless person asking for some sort of help; it can either be for a place to stay, money, or food. Many people are used to categorizing a group of people by a solo characteristic, known as a stereotype. Misconception, on the other hand, is a conclusion of someone or something that is wrong because it is based on faulty thinking or facts. Stereotypes and misconceptions appear to be similar, however, these two are not. A misconception is formed from having a stereotype. Stereotypes and misconceptions are built because many try, but are unable to understand a person or a group, or are just simply unwilling to understand the person or group. There are over a million

Being a young Caucasian woman, I feel as though society has stereotyped me as a coffee drinking, yoga loving, UGG boot wearing female incompetent of thinking for herself. I am expected to drive a new Mercedes Benz, throw a temper tantrum when daddy won't hand over his credit card, and have a mental breakdown when the holidays come to an end because that means the infamous Starbucks pumpkin spice latte will no longer be available. Social media has coined a phrase for these issues and that is “white girl problems”. I prefer the term “racial stereotyping”.

Earth is populated by approximately 7.1 billion inhabitants, within those dwellers you come across people of diverse color, race and ethnicity. In today’s society stereotyping and discrimination have become an increasing social acceptance. Stereotyping can be described as classifying or making assumptions about person based upon their behaviors and or clothing. One stereotype that is currently on the rise is the misconception Americans have on Latinos. The first stereotype misconception there is, is that Latinos took all the American jobs. The following fallacy, Americans have is that all Latinos are Mexican. Preceding that fallacy is, Americans believe Latinos are not well educated and lazy.

Stereotyping leads to prejudice. If I am walking in a park and I see a group of people walking towards me (lets say all are white males) and they are dressed up and look very nice. I do not panic, now another group is walking towards me and now this group is all men (African Americans) and they are dressed and conduct themselves just the same as the first group, but I panicked with this group. Why because I stereotyped the second group and if I was prejudice no matter how they dressed or acted I would be afraid of them because they are black. I judge them based on skin color and not on individuality.

People have a natural tendency to stereotype, given to them the minute they can form ideas. These stereotypes are seen as wrong by the twenty-first century society of America, something humanity should fight within. They are seen as immoral, a human instinct to be fought. Stereotyping is generally viewed as a negative thing: many people even claim it’s evil, a way to oppress those different from others. It is commonly thought to have a major influence on the way people perceive others, often influencing their perceptions negatively, thus being seen as having a bad effect on the way people view other cultures or ideas. However, other people claim that stereotyping can have a positive influence over the lives of others, and is not innately bad. Thus begging the question; is stereotyping inherently bad, or has it done some good for the world too?

Throughout our American society, there have been topics, or more specifically, issues, that have been implemented in our lives. Whether it be poverty, economic issues, equality, and thus forth, there is one what has always been around for centuries, but has made a bigger impact is stereotyping. This in-particular topic has lead to a multitude of problems, such as social categorization, and the cause of prejudice. The stereotyping propaganda in the United States has caused more problems and attracted more attention than is truly needed.

What if I were to tell you that you that for the rest of your life, you would be unfairly judged, and possibly even discriminated against, based on false perceptions and ideas gathered from influences that only resemble you in the vaguest of ways, most likely being, skin color? And what if no matter how an individual person chooses to carry oneself, they will still commonly be regarded as a member of said misconceptions? Enter, stereotype: “A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.”(1)

Stereotypes make us simplify our social world so it’s it becomes easier to recognize some situations. They make us understand basic groups of people to some extent of truth. “The most famous study of racial stereotyping was published by Katz and Braly in 1933, 100 university students were asked to indicate the traits most characteristic of ten different social groups. Students displayed a high level of agreement about the traits of certain racial and ethnic groups, such as Negroes (described as superstitious by 84% of the students, and as lazy by 75%), and Jews (described as shrewd by 79%).” All kinds of people of stereotypes about others.

Stereotypes are a streamlined idea of a certain group which can eventually spread prejudice which is a belief on a group of people. The difference is that stereotypes can be formed by experiences whereas prejudices are people taking a stereotype and believing it, but they do not have experience on a certain group. For example, a person may have seen that some Mexicans act rough and messy, but that person could share their experiences with other people who may not know Mexicans well. As a result, other people will take that stereotype and believe it, forming a prejudice inside their mind. If they were to meet a Mexican person, they would just assume that they are all rough and messy, despite having no prior experiences with Mexicans. Discrimination can consist of actions done to a group of people. Discrimination is not the same as Racism as discrimination is the unequal treatment of a person based on their race. Racism is a stronger type of prejudice that is used to claim that one race is superior to other races. An example of Racism is the Ku Klux Klan as their members believe whites are superior to any other race. They do not discriminate by mistreating other races. Instead, they spread hate speech and commit hate crimes to try to show that whites are better than other races.

Racism, prejudice, and stereotyping are major issues in America. Racism is defined as “a set of beliefs that one’s own racial group is superior to other groups (Benokraitis, 2014, p. 185). The existence of racism comes hand to hand with hate groups. Hate groups are an organized group of individuals who demonstrates hatred against people of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other designated sector of society. One particular hate group that I would like to explore is “World Church of the Creator”. “World Church of the Creator” is a white supremacist group that considers itself a religion found on the proposition that the white race is “nature’s highest creation ("ADL- World Church of the Creator", 2001).

Stereotypes are something that we are all affected by in our everyday lives in one way or another. You may have made a stereotype about someone, and not even realize that you are stereotyping them. For that reason I believe that there are many different stereotypes embedded into our minds. Everyone has made a stereotype about someone, and may have been wrong or right about that stereotype. Either way if you were wrong or right about what you thought about, or labeled on a person, it is still a stereotype. I have noticed that people do not take the time to get to know someone, but rather stereotype them off appearances or gender, or religion, and many other different categories of people.

People believe that there are many forms of misunderstanding, getting things mixed up, and just straight confusion.They see it as they push the issue of racism in the past to the side, and they feel offended by it.Their argument is that all people could act suspicious and not only young men of color. People think that their race is superior than others, when people talk about the system they mostly talking about the police.

Another way to prevent racism and stereotyping is by educating ourselves. We have access to many tools that can largely reduce our ignorance. Tools such as the internet, movies, music, books, and news can be used to further enrich our knowledge of different cultures and races. Read articles on the internet that discusses ways of how to reduce racism. Watch movies that explore the history of different races. Listen to people on podcasts or YouTube videos who have experienced prejudice. Use these tools to become more mindful of racism and stereotyping.

Bias and stereotyping can both be harmful for self-esteem and the developmental process in children. Bias is not only harmful for the target group since it lowers the self-esteem, but the group who feels superiority over the other is also harmed. The feeling of being superior disconnects a person from reality. Too much of self-esteem reduces the appreciation of others and may even slow down progress for the beholder. Stereotyping creates preconceived notions in the minds of children and adults due to which they fail to see others for what they actually are and rather judge them on the basis of information that is misguided and obsolete. Stereotyping results in developing strong perspectives of people who are different and causes prejudice.