Stereotypes

Over the years, racial stereotypes have always played a big role in our society. Till today, everyone attaches racial stereotypes and injustice thoughts towards a person without knowing or saying a word to the person. Signs of race and ethnicity are everywhere in our media culture and people are judged based on inaccurate information given by the media such as television, cartoons, dramas, movies and even comic books. These stereotypes will influence the younger generations, create tension between groups and affect people in many ways.

The way that television portrays different races can be very subtle like main character status, level of interaction between races, activity levels, and social status (Maher, 2008). The characters demonstrated in certain television programs are formed by what the writers believe and they take the basic features of a character and expand it thinking the viewers will enjoy it, leading to racial and ethnic stereotypes by using ‘misinformation’ through movies, shows and news reports. Egyptians in this case are being portrayed as uneducated, unethical, raise desert animals, terrorists and uncivilized.

These false information is what the media uses as techniques to portray Egyptians as humans of the underworld and Egypt as a deserted country. Egyptians have been stereotyped as desert residents for many years even though Egypt has been advanced now as a country. They have been looked at as uneducated but fact is there is an American University built in Cairo where many Egyptians have gotten their Bachelors, Masters and PhD’s from, but however the media still influence the public to view the Egyptians as desert people.

In the movie “The Mummy” which was shot at Egypt, individual Egyptians are filthy, greedy, slimey pigs. The Egyptian masses are mindless, murderous zombies who chant the name Imhotep. This has affected Egyptians as well as other stereotyped ethnic groups everywhere. The threat does not only affect the life of the adults but the children as well. In a research done by the University of California about the consequences of racial stereotypes on children, it was said that it has a direct effect on the academic performance of the stereotyped children.

One of the sayings in this research is: “African American and Latino children who are aware of broadly held stereotypes about academic ability perform more poorly on a cognitive task when that task is described as a measure of ability that when the same task is described as a problem-solving task. ” (Carol Hyman 2003). This applies to all race and ethnic groups everywhere in our world Racial and ethnic stereotype in media not only in fluencies the adults but is also adapted and carried over with the children who are the youth of tomorrow and we wouldn’t want this stereotype to continue on in the years to come.

It is easy to give out information with no factual back up, but the public preference is what can either stop media propaganda from affecting the public opinion or simply fuel such dangerous aspect of the media, stereotypes. Hyman, Carol (2003). “Awareness of racial stereotypes happens at an early age, has consequences”, UC Berkeley News. Online at: , consulted on May 2003.

During the early 1800’s, racism was still rampant among citizens in America, especially those in the south. Minorities were generalized as a member of a certain racial group and stereotyped with degrading qualities that implied that they were less than human. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates a character with all of the African-American stereotypes, and throughout the novel, develops him into a character that everyone can relate to, showing that he is human. At that time, African-Americans were seen as animals that did not care for anyone, but Twain shows that Jim has feelings, despite what society thinks. Another aspect of the African-American stereotype was that all African-Americans were stupid, but Jim, although uneducated, is not portrayed as stupid. A common belief among racists at the time was that African-Americans were less than human, but throughout the novel, Jim shows feelings of despair, regret and compassion, all of which are humanlike.

In contrast to the typical stereotype that African-Americans care for no one but theirselves, Jim is depicted as an extremely caring person. When describing his daughter to Huck, Jim says, “En wid dat I fetch’ her a slap side de head dat sont her a-spawlin’…Oh, Huck, I bust out a-cryin’ en grab her up in my arms, en say, ‘Oh, de po’ little thing! De Lord God Amighty fogive po’ Jim, kaze he never gwyne to forgive hisself as lon’s he live!”(156). In this quotation, Jim expresses extreme regrete and sorrow for his daughter whom he has realized is deaf and couldn’t hear anything he was saying to her.

When Huck and Jim have been separated and Huck is staying at the Grangerfords, Jim shows another instance of caring. When Huck saw Jim for the first time again he wrote, ” I waked him up, and I reckoned it was going to be a grand surprise to him to see me again, but it warn’t. He nearly cried he was so glad, but he warn’t surprised”(114). In this quotation, Twain illustrates Jim’s concern for not only his own family, but for his Huck, whom he has formed a unique friendship with. Twain successfully develops Jim into a character that cares not only for his family, but for his friends.

African-Americans and slaves especially, were stereotyped as ignorant in the early 1800’s. Jim, like most other slaves, has no formal education and talks in a dialect that makes him appear to be less educated. However Jim has a unique kind of intelligence. When Huck was trying to trick Jim into thinking that he had dreamt up their separation in the fog, Jim notices the debris on Huck, “Jim looked at the trash, and then looked at me, and back at the trash again. He had got the dream fixed so strong in his head that he couldn’t seem to shake it loose and get the facts back into its place again right away. But when he did get the thing straightened around he looked at me steady without ever smiling” (54). Jim shows his common sense smarts by figuring out when Huck is lying to him.

The fact that Huck, an educated white boy, couldn’t fool Jim, an uneducated slave, with his scheme shows that although Jim is uneducated, he is intelligent in his own way. When the Duke and the King come on board the raft, Jim knows that since the King claims he is from France, that he should be able to speak French. “I found Jim had been trying to get him to talk French, so he could hear what it was like; but he said he had been in this country so long, and had so much trouble, he’d forgot it”(179). This shows the reasoning ability that Jim has. He knows that since the King is from France he should be able to speak French. Huck interprets this as Jim wanting to hear French, but what Jim is actually trying to do is to verify the King’s story and keep themselves safe.

Perhaps the worst stereotype about African-Americans at that time was that they were less than human, unable to feel humanlike emotions or act like normal humans do. Jim is portrayed as exactly the opposite, routinely risking his own life and freedom for the welfare of others. When Tom has been shot and Huck is consulting with Jim on what they should do, Jim says, “Well, den, is Jim gwyne to say it? No, sah-I doan’budge a step out’n this place ‘dout a doctor; not if it’s forty year! (266)”. Jim has decided to risk being caught again to make sure that Tom Sawyer sees a doctor. He knows very well that he could easily be caught doing this and set back into slavery, but he does it anyway. This shows that Jim is a very humanlike character who experiences humanlike emotions, compassion in this instance, and acts in selfless ways. Twain again demonstrates Jim’s equality and humanlike characteristics when Huck and Jim and eating on the raft. Huck writes, “so Jim he got out some corn-dodgers and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage and greens… and whilst I eat my supper we talked and had a good time” (126). This quotation illustrates Jim as an equal to Huck who can experience the same easy-going and fun emotions that Huck can. No where in the book is Jim unable to understand an emotion Huck or any other person is feeling, showing his humanity.

Jim is a representation of how all people can feel emotions for others, be intelligent no matter how uneducated they are, and experience emotions of the human race. Mark Twain has succeeded in creating a character who although is a minority, embodies characteristics that people can relate to. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was an important statement against racism and the values taught can still be applies to the American culture today.

Title: Prejudice Prejudice Marjorie W. Davis PSY/285 February 28, 2012 Michael Ford Abstract Our discussion is about how does society confirm prejudicial attitudes? How does ones social identity contribute to prejudice? How do emotions encourage prejudicial attitudes? What cognitive processes influence prejudice? Our text has explained competition; competition is an important source of frustration that can fuel prejudice. When two groups compete for jobs, housing, or social prestige, one group’s goal fulfillment can become the other group’s frustration. Prejudice

Society confirms prejudice by what you possess and how much money you have. If you are not in a certain bracket such as (high class or middle class), you are considered poor. Prejudice helps justify the economic and social superiority of those who have wealth and power. Of course they will not give a chance at credit to buy a house, car, or start a business. Society, also confirm prejudice by the way you dress or the car you drive. Society confirms prejudicial attitude by focusing on personal individuality and Independence, as opposed to becoming a team with neighbors and friends.

I am so glad that God looks at the heart and man looks at the outer appearance. One’s social identity contributes base on a realization of limited environmental control. The more you believe that you can impact your environment or social status, the less roll social identity plays Emotions really affect prejudicial attitudes because most of the time people make decisions based on their emotions. Emotions of fear and sadness or joy and gladness, which can cause you to project feelings in a hurtful way, rather than in a helpful manner Cognitive process influence prejudice through stereotyping, which cause prejudice.

This can be a result of the normal ways in which we simplify and organize the world. Stereotypes are the social scripts we have in our heads about others and the roles we believe they should play in our socially constructed world. It is important to have the understanding of the basic concepts of prejudice and racism, and how to lessen their destructive effect (Rosado, 1995-2012). Reference Rosado, C. (1995-2012). Critical Multicultral Pavilion Research Room. Retrieved from http://www. edchange,org/multicultral/papers/caleb/racism. html

Kiara Jacobs Dr. Benie Colvin English 1101 M, W, F 4 November 2012 Stereotyping using Racial Profiling As a society, people play into the looks, culture, and beliefs of a person and within minutes people make an assumption of who they are. Society takes one look at a person and based on their race, instantly draw a conclusion upon them without even asking them their name. Stereotyping has been around for centuries; the most commonly used stereotypes involve race.

People use racial stereotyping based on what society deems that race to be, without first getting to know that person in order to draw individual valid conclusions about them. When people are using racial stereotypes, they often think that they are better than the other person based on the color of their skin. In the article “Stereotypes” by Saul McLeod, he uses research on stereotypes by Katz and Braly which states, “Not surprisingly, racial stereotypes always seem to favor the race of the holder and belittle other races” (McLeod,Katz,Braly).

A person who is set on pre-judging someone is that they are better than someone of another race. Some feel as though no one of another racial background can equal to them or is not even worthy to sit and eat with them, all because they do not have the same skin color. People cannot choose what race they want to be. As people belittle each others races, those that they belittle may be left thinking, together they are really better because they are black, white, Latino, or Indian. The media also plays a significant role in racial stereotyping.

It is known to influence the minds of many from children to adults. They set forth an image of different racial backgrounds and portray it to the public. In a hosted article by New York Amsterdam news called “Media Blamed for Negative Stereotyping of Black Males,” it states, “This false image not only affects race relations… can be predetermined for them by suggestions in the media”(Media Blamed for Negative Stereotyping of Black Males. ). The media adds to racial stereotyping because it gives people more reason to continue to judge a person from of their skin color.

It also gives the motive for judgment because the media reflects how contemporary society is shaped. They categorize African Americans with drugs and crime, Caucasians with living the life of luxury, and all Hipics with being in the United States illegally. Societies may absorb these opinions in their head by viewing television, and automatically think they know a person. The media puts different racial backgrounds in certain categories and makes it hard to change the perception of that racial background because that is all they portray them to be.

However, the images that may be shown on television, in a magazine, or on the news does not define a whole set of people. Regrettably, stereotyping someone seems much easier than actually getting to know them. People look at an individual race and quickly identify the characteristics that are forced upon them, when in actuality they are nothing like the label society has associated them with. As a society, people should take the time and opportunity to get to know a person as an individual instead of placing them into a category. Stereotyping: Seeing Beyond First impressions,” an article from the Boston College states , “Just like when people are stereotyping you, you should get to know them better because there is a lot more to a person than first impressions” (Stereotyping: Seeing Beyond First impressions. ) Taking time out to get to know person intimately as an individual may be difficult for some in their head they already have drawn a conclusion about them. However, few minutes of conversation can change a person’s perspective.

A barrier can be broken and opinions can change allowing realization to set in and determine that all people who have the same racial background are not the same. A person may look at all African Americans as rude and illiterate. Their entire perception of African Americans may change after getting to know one who is the opposite of what society claims them to be. Therefore, taking a couple of minutes to get to know someone can break a person’s racial stereotypical barrier. Stereotypes in general are hard to overcome. People who are used to hearing stereotypes repeatedly conform to them. Stereotyping: Seeing Beyond First impressions” also states, “One thing to be careful of is becoming more like the stereotype because another person labeled you” (Stereotyping: Seeing Beyond First impressions). Conformity to stereotypes may occur because individuals may feel that they are destined to be the way society has claimed them to be. Racial stereotyping is very difficult to defeat. Individuals have to stand up and claim that they will not be what society may label them to be. Individuals have to prove that they are their own person and not what someone has labeled them to be.

It is a difficult task trying to defy the odds of conforming to a stereotype, especially when it is everywhere. Racial stereotyping has a significant impact on the world. It affects the way individuals may treat one another and how communication and ideas may deteriorate just because two people do not represent the same race. Some individuals miss a good opportunity of getting to know different aspects of good people. They are blind to the fact that learning new things about a different culture or race could broaden their knowledge in the world. No one should be looked at differently because of their skin color.

For society to make a change for the better, people have to be smart and strong to form their own opinion. People should not let the media, other people or family members influence their thought on a person just because they do not look like them. Works Cited “Stereotypes. ” Stereotypes. Trustees of Boston College, 29 Mar. 20010. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://www. simplypsychology. org/katz-braly. html>. Media blamed for negative stereotyping of Black males. New York Amsterdam News [serial online]. May 31, 1997:13. Available from: MAS Ultra – School Edition, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 5, 2012.