Whats with the stereotyping.?

Question

why is it that we have so many ignorant people in the world even now. I have met many well educated succesful whites blacks asians hispanics. But overtime no matter what i eventually have to hear some form of racial comments from these people. sometimes on a daily basis. Why? are they scared?

i dont even act like anything just me. no slang no cussing nothing,

Answer 1

people are pusses. They don't stop to use their brain to think about stuff, they don't have the selfcontroll to do so. Whether it's cuz your mexican, or cuz you have blue hair cuz it's pretty, people want to look down on you cuz your different, and they think anyone different than they are, can't possibly be as good as them.

Answer 2

Stereotyping and racism is a learned behavior. Most of these people are this ignorant because they learned it from their parents or from someone else they respected.

The real harm comes from the fact that so many stereotypes are base on a small degree of truth. Ignorant people hear a stereotype, then see a few instances of it being true, and choose to ignore any examples to the contrary. One example is the misconception that black people are criminals. Of course that isn't true, but some black people, just like some of every race, do commit crimes. Someone might hear that stereotype from a parent and then see a black person committing a crime on the news, then assume that the hateful comment is true. They don't take the time to consider the millions of black people that are really good people and have contributed so many great things to our society and culture. Most prejudice starts when the people are very young, so they don't know any better, then continues once they are adults.
The only thing we can do is show everyone that we can that we are not sterotypes through our actions everyday.

Answer 3

Many other answerers have hit the nail on the head (except for that sanchez guy and that tapdiva chick), but I'd also like to add that once an idea has been ingrained into a society (such as racism), it takes a long time for a population to change their minds about it. For instance, some older people will have grown up in times when racism was more abundant, and so it still remains in them even today. Therefore, while we have progressed as a society, the remnants of this anachronistic ideal still remain.

Answer 4

Here is the thing with stereotyping.

Parts of the stereotype are true, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten to be stereotypes in the first place.

For instance, black people as a whole, put more expensive rims on their cars. Do some white people do it to? Yep. But the proportion of the black community that does it is larger than the white community.

Now, is it bad or wrong? I don't know nor do I care, but it's an observation that can be made.

Here's a white stereotype,

we can't dance.

Now, there's plenty white people who really are good dancers, but for the most part, black people are better at it than we are.

Both of these things are realities, why people can't talk about them, laugh about them or what have you, makes no sense to me.

Answer 5

We are taught to define ourselves by our race, and that can be a tough lesson to unlearn, especially with all the racial separatism going down in America today. Hyphenated Americans set themselves apart from the mainstream, and demand to be treated differently. That is a mistake, a priori, because "differently" can be either a good thing or a bad thing.
Much better to simply interact with PEOPLE, rather than with black people, white people, pink people, gray people, brown people, orange people (at the beach), sort of yellowish-green people (outside Taco Bell), etc.
Stereotyping is not an activity motivated by fear, it is an activity motivated by ignorance, habit, and training.
Let's smarten up, break some bad habits, and learn some new tricks.

Answer 6

I don't think education alone removes racism from a person's thoughts. How they were raised, maybe something happened to them at one time or another in their life. People are afraid of the unknown and rather than try to see the similarities they let the differences become their prominent focus. Point out similarities, there are always some to point out! Small though they may appear to be.

Answer 7

everybody has prejudice.
-its a part of human nature.
-and its something that helps keep us alive. if you touch a stove and it burns u, ur not gonna touch another hot stove.

success in institutional education or the job market is not directly related to intelligence

there are many reasons and roots to the prejudice people acquire
-upbringing
-experiences
-stupidity

desipite the alleged inferiority, black americans have often been feared by all groups (even each other), particularly whites, and treated most harshly and strictly by organized authority.
-a group of black teens standing around needing to be quickly dispersed
-many cops often dealing with ONE black man
-groups of klansmen or mobs attacking one or a few black ppl
-not allowing them to even gather alone too long, much less read or write in slave days.


it takes a strong and intelligent person to not allow their prejudice to show in their actions. to be above and look at the individual, not the group or stereotypes about the group

Answer 8

Groups of people as a rule tend to imitate each other...like all rules...there are exceptions....and with humans there are as many exceptions to the rule as there are rules. So, stereotyping is a waste of time....give everyone the benefit of the doubt until they do something that stereotypical--then just ignore them and move on....live and let live....but if you see a nervous Iraqi in the airport, heavily clothed in the heat of summer, praying to Allah....I say pull'm aside and frisk'm.

Answer 9

People just say things when they're angry. Not all white people are the same, not all black people are the same, not all Asian, etc. so if someone stereotypes they are just plain wrong and looking for an easy way to degrade someone by appearance.

Answer 10

Ignorance.