Why is it that some races hate the fact that they are stereotyped,?

Question

and yet continue doing the same things that created the stereotype in the first place..i.e. young black men are violent, spanish girls are crazy, indian people smell like B.O....etc... I am not a racist at all, but in my experiences almost all of the main stereotypes, especially about race, have pretty much proven themselves to be true. What are your thoughts about it? Do you see the same things, or is that what they just are to you, stereotypes? I know ignorance plays a huge part in stereotypes, but what else is there?

Answer 1

I'm going to go out on a limb and piss everyone off. Over millions of years we evolved the brain power to make stereotypes and generalizations. Having them doesn't make you a racist anymore than not believing in big bang makes you a creationist. Choosing to use them in a negitive fashion makes you a racist. Do Indian people stink? Yeah, a lot of the time they do. Does that mean all of them do? No. I also understand that where Indians come from, India, they don't have the same hygiene practices we do, and that they eat differently. It doesn't mean they are bad people or anything else, just different. Are young black men violent? I'm not a young black man, so I can't tell you one way or the other, but juding by the fact they make up almost 70 percent of prison populations would tell the casual observer that there may be in fact some truth to it. As a responsible thinker, you would also have to look at some socioeconomic factors, but the facts are still there. It doesn't mean that all black men are violent, or that most are even, but there is a trend. Call me a racist all you want, I'm just backing myself up with demographics. Are Spanish chicks crazy? I've dated one that was a little off, but not anymore than some of the crazy white chicks I've dated. I would venture to guess some black chicks are crazy, but I've never dated one, and I couldn't really say one way or the other. I couldn't really come up with any stereotypes for the whites among us, but I know we have them. And I am probably guilty of being a part of a few of them. It's just hard to reflect through the looking glass. Although I can assure all of you I don't play tennis, I do golf, I'm just not sure that qualifies me being a racist asshole. The stereotypes are there for a reason. If you don't like it, or you think it's stupid, great, your enlightened, but for the majority of people, they are generally pretty useful, in a horrible to admit, but practical sort of way. It's not right to judge an individual by a stereotype, but we as members of our little groups in question, daily affect what other groups are going to say about our own group. It's important that you act on your best behavior to show the other groups we're all alike in one way or another and that we don't have to go on hating everyone.

Answer 2

Ok, this is a touchy one so I need to walk carefully through this minefield. You are correct in so much that stereotypes are not created in a vacuum. Stereotypes do (whether people admit it or not) come from observations of certain idiosincracies within a particular grouping, be it race, gender even orientation. There are some uniquely cultural quirks. Now, where I have a problem is your statement: "young black men are violent, spanish girls are crazy, indian people smell like B.O". I know plenty of southern white boys who are both smelly and violent and frankly just as crazy as the latina girl your mentioned. The point being, although you can to a certain degree make the argument that stereotypes can be accurate, you must remember, most stereotypes tend to become overgeneralized descriptives over time, thus they are not as true as you may think.

There, I don't think I blew any mines up while I strolled through.

Answer 3

Stereotypes are only true for a certain amount of each race. I believe that people judge a lot of people before they know the real person. For instance, there may be an occassion of a black male beating someone to death, but he could have been a completely docile human being, and a perfect record before this particular instance occured. But, a person that accepts, and helps perpetuate stereotypes would not look at that; only the fact that he was black, and commited a violent act. And, that in turn, helps the stereotype spread. If you choose to judge a person, judge them by their character, and not their skin color.

Answer 4

It's pretty funny that you say you aren't racist after you've just made 3 racist comments in quick succession.
When we start to believe stereotypes, that's all we see. I'm sure there are just as many young violent white men, crazy English people and Australians who have B.O, but because YOU don't associate those things with those races you probably don't notice it.
I think poor quality media programs reinforce stereotypes but they are something which should be challenged.

Answer 5

A racist is one that thoroughly believes that the stereotypes are true about an entire group of people. There is no possible way you have met every single young black man, or ever single Native American or Hispanic woman, therefore you cannot base your judgments on the few that you have seen in your area or on TV.

Not everyone strives to live up to stereotypes, however there are the few who do nothing to combat the ignorance portrayed. however they should not be the picture of what that race is or represents.

If everyone lived on stereotypes, no one would be trusted- because we all know Mr. Roger type men are all child molesters right? NO!! I say get a grip and until you meet everyone in the world, i say hold back on your judgments. I don't believe the stereotypes i see about Caucasians like being all child molesters and incestuous people. that would be ignorant on my part!

There are good and bad people in EVERY race- not just minority groups.

Answer 6

Stereotypes are born basically from lack of expertise. I commend on your achievements at Berkeley and that i salute your father for being a real function kind. all people who believes that Black human beings carry an unique on drug figuring out to purchase and merchandising is a fool. The stereotype i might maximum pick to disspell is that which shows all white human beings are racists/rednecks. many folk have developed wayyyyyyyy up the chain and actually include the dazzling thing approximately all cultures. On a lighter notice, I hate the theory that "white boys won't be in a position to bounce" and that white human beings won't be in a position to bounce.

Answer 7

sterotypes are just that, stereotypes. If they were true it would called facts. Just because people of certain races, creeds, and colors do things it doesn't mean all people of that race do the same thing. I mean if I get all my information from Tv and music like some do, my view of all people would be competely warped. i mean i've seen the jackass movies, but I don't think all young white boys and midgets go out jumping of rooftops and putting horseheads in peoples beds. If you want to the know the truth about people you have to talk to the people. Instead of going by the media. People make up things about people they don't understand, people degrade and belittle people out of oppression, people look at things they see and read and make assumption from fear. That's where stereotypes stem from.

Answer 8

I think it would be safe to say that we all have these thoughts. I usually go on a person-to-person basis. I am an American Indian, and of course, I may get tired of people asking me if I turn into a different person when I have a drink--but really, who cares?? One thing I cannot stand is political correctness to the point that we can't even have a joke or two on ourselves. The Governor of California, who made some silly racial references (which were partially true), had to apologize for his remarks, which were clearly made in humor......and this is what makes me think we have gotten dangerously PC....

Answer 9

Good question...I'm in my 60's so iv'e seen alot of social changes...i've come to believe that there is only one race of people ,,,the human race,,,stereotypes seem to come from the fringes of certian cultures,,,and there is probably where the diferences are between us...check out the Springer show and you'l see just how much we are all the same...also europe born whites/blacks etc are different than us americans even though we export SOME of our culture to each other...

Answer 10

You can find these things to be true in any if you look hard enough for them. Young black men are violent?
have you ever seen cops? SO are young white men. So are old hispanic men.
Im crazy, im a jew.
People find what they perceive as negitive, see it as a trend, it becomes a sterotype. Its something for other people to exploit and complain about other types with.