There are millions of cases all around where people either think or act negatively towards other races either because they feel they are better, they are intimidated, or simply because they do not like them. To give a common example, how many times do we hear the phrase "white men can't jump" is that really true? How many white athletes are there? And even if some white men can't jump, does that mean that ALL white men can't?
My husband used to be a pest control salesman. He would travel all over the country and sell door to door, and he was amazed at all of the acts of racism that he saw. Sometimes it would be through the customers who would only have their lawns sprayed by white technicians. Other times it would be through other salesmen who would purposely not sell to Black families because they assumed that these families wouldn't pay their bills. I feel that these assumptions and feelings are the common racist feelings that exist in our country today. Americans prefer to be around people who are like them and share their common beliefs. Thus they tend to harbor negative attitudes towards people who do not look, or act like them.
11 comments:
You have a point. Everywhere there are people who judge others because of one aspect of their lives or another. But don't you think there is something to be said for people hanging out, being friends with, and living by people similar to them. I am not saying that it's okay to just totally write someone off because of some rash judgment we make about them based by looks.
But we must acknowledge that people group with people that are like them- race and culture have a lot to do with that.
I think the person that liked your comment says something interesting just in the fact that they thought it was an interesting enough question but perhaps not brave enough or didn't think it through enough to comment? Just throwing that out there.
I agree completely. It's those broad generalizations that are either intentionally or unintentionally pounded into everyone's heads that eventually leads to racist thoughts and actions.
I think that stereotyping can be a form of racist thinking because it's not taking the time to explore the individual, but rather to clump them in a group and make assumptions.
I think that in a lot of ways the stereotypes stem from past experiences. Perhaps it's not as much a case of "racism" but a problem of lumping people into easy categories. As George Clooney says in "Up In The Air," "I'm like my mother. I stereotype. It's faster."
Funny how we can say, "white men can't jump," but we cant say, "black men can't read." No I'm not racist at all, but whites are expected to be more sensitive to race.
It seems like racism is gradually decreasing in our country with the passage of time. Racism is still alive today, but i think it is a much more watered-down version of what it used to be. And eventually maybe we will notice differences in cultures and focus less on differences in color.
Not sure what it means to look like an American. Would shopping at Old Navy during the 4th of July season help? What's funny is that I like to look at the Hip Hop Culture and other subcultures for how I want to act and look like. And I feel the US has made subcultures become so diverse that race is thrown out all together that you get labels like hip hop heads, skaters, and hipsters more than you get blacks, whites, and asians.
One of the comments said that whites need to be more careful about what they say about racism. I don't know that it's necessarily wrong even if we do for now - in general, in this country, white people have had an inherent privilege. By virtue of that, we have an obligation to help others. I do think that it can be taken to an extreme if you are always walking on eggshells, but I've heard before that where there has been an actual offense, it is a lot easier to perceive an offense. Many of us don't have to worry about being discriminated against or looked at funny every day, but for some people that is a reality
I totally agree with the idea that people make blanket statements about race that aren't true, such as the "white men can't jump" comment, and that we all should look at the best in others as individuals and not lump people together in categories.
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