The Color of America
Americans have the tendency to make judgments based on appearances. A man dressed in dirty, torn rags walking down the street would be considered poor and homeless. Women that dress in tight clothes or short skirts are almost instantly categorized as being promiscuous. Unfortunately, stereotypes negatively affect the ability to understand members of a different group or ethnicity, and people are usually resistant to change because of them. Various groups of people are stereotyped for many reasons, but none like different ethnic groups in this country. America is one big melting pot of culture, religion, and ethnicities. Because of this, many different ideas and beliefs conflict and racial discrimination is created. The most common stereotypes are those which are aimed at different ethnic or racial groups. African-American stereotypes are the most obvious. People have often stereotyped young black men as gang members solely because of the kind of clothes they wear. The media constantly blasts images of black men involved in crime and gang-banging across the six o'clock news, but hardly ever the White or Asian doing the same. If one black man is a criminal, so are the rest of them. This acquisiti
So if there is so much hostility between races, then why do many young white kids look to the black culture for insight on how to be cool? Young children in today's society are constantly looking for some role-model or fashion to copy. African-American culture has a sharp edge to it. Kids of all races are influenced by black fashion, music, and sports. Alexander argues: "Cool is all about trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents. It's about living on the periphery, diving for scraps. Essential to cool is being outside looking in" (368). There is a certain smoothness to the black culture that has always existed and always will. Americans must learn how to appreciate this lifestyle just as that of Chinese, Spanish, and Indian. on places all black males together in a group. Whatever happened to individuality? What is the point of classifying races together? Just because one black man robbed a liquor store doesn't mean that every other one will too. To think this is ignorant and stupid. Every human born in this country has the same rights and freedoms as another. Each person has a chance to make their life into whatever they want it to be, regardless if they are black, white, purple, or green. People have also stereotyped African-Americans as the largest ethnic group on public assistance, which is not true at all. It just seems that way because people are ignorant to the fact that whites make up most of the welfare system. They are also stereotyped as superior to other races concerning sports. They can jump higher, run faster, and have better balance because of their "extra" muscles. It may seem this way when we watch sports on television, nonetheless though it is a stereotype. Stereotypes are products of our own indi
Some common words found in the essay are:
OJ Simpson, America Americans, White Asian, American Indians, Indian Stereotypes, Donnell Alexander, Alexander Black, Simpson Americans, Everyday America, Kae Grover, racial discrimination, white culture, black cool, people stereotyped, isn't white culture, white people, isn't white, culture isn't, black culture, fisher captured, oj simpson, culture isn't white,
Approximate Word count = 1177
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
