do you think that racial stereotypes exist because they're true?

Question

for example: asians can't drive, blacks love fried chicken and white people can't dance

i could go all day with this stuff but i don't want to offend people with this question. it's just a simple opinion question. best response gets 10 points

wow..polish people aready came up twice...that's amazing...

i'm polish..but i'm not stupid enough to ride into battle on horses versus tanks.

by the way evil spoon..."white people can't dance"...

you would have seen that if you read the question past the word chicken...

do you think past experiences (personal and historical) lead to the development of these stereotypes?

Answer 1

Probably. What is striking is how specific they are. Also, they are pretty universal.

I wouldn't expect that if they were just random.

My model:
a) There is a kernel of truth to boot, e.g. white people are slightly worse at dancing than members of other races, for whatever reason.
b) Peoples pattern recognition mechanisms pick up this subtle trend. A stereotype forms.
c) Once established, people "see it" everywhere, exaggerating the real differences due to biases in our cognitive apparatus (confirmation bias and the tendency to perceive what we expect)
d) Once it becomes popular knowledge, members of that race (e.g. whites) self-reinforce that stereotype because they are aware of it, e.g. white people are discouraged from practicing how to dance because they don't want to be ridiculed.

In the end, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and a strong effect. In the strongest sense, it becomes true.

People find them offensive because there is always a lot of variance within groups - for any trait - so it often doesn't do justice to individuals. But it might be apt to describe groups. That's where the confusion comes in.

Answer 2

Ok. I'm man enough to admit when I am wrong. I misread what you meant when you referred to my answer regarding white stereotypes. I apologize for insinuating that you were racist, though I specifically said that you probably were not. The insinuation was still there, however, and I cannot deny that. I'm sorry. That you got so upset about it proves my point, however, that stereotypes hurt people. The whole idea is obviously a timebomb kind of an issue. It is best to stay away from the stereotypes and embrace one another as individuals, rather than to mess around with generalizations that just cause anger and hatred.

Original answer: Most certainly not, at least, not the examples you give. LOTS of Asians drive fine. LOTS of blacks do not like fried chicken, and how can you label the ones that do? White people don't eat fried chicken!? I know I do! And, LOTS of white people can dance, although I admit that I am not one of them.

You can definitely find some stereotypes that would appear to fit different races, but the truth of the matter is that RACE does not cause it. What causes stereotypes is cultural perception. For example, a few Asians have driving problems when they first come to America, because all the signs are different and they have trouble reading English at high speed. Suddenly, everyone thinks none of them can drive? Give me a break. Send some white people over to Japan and ask THEM to drive. How good will they be? Here is another example: how many black people in the Congo eat fried chicken? Or, how many russian ballet stars are not white? Hmm...

And why do you pick racial stereotypes? Do stereotypes only exist regarding race? Think of how many stereotypes exist regarding gender or region or country or sports. Are all women bad at math? Are all Polish people stupid? Are all small people easily angered? Are all athletes rude? Can you think of some true examples for each of these? Sure. But you'll find a lot more examples of people who break those stereotypes, because they are simply not true. Bad characteristics are traits of individuals, not groups of people.

And here is the ultimate question: you were trying not to offend anyone with your examples.. but where was the WHITE example? Hmm... maybe you are a racist? Probably not, but how does it feel to now be stereotyped?

P.S. Regarding an additional comment you added regarding Poles, if you didn't have any tanks, and you only had horses, then what would you do? Walk? Was it stupidity or necessity? That is why stereotypes are wrong. They are almost always based in ignorance.

Answer 3

Anthony S. is wrong. Stereotypes are not just generalization, but the statistical trait average of a group. This is the correct definition and still would be if people like Anthony S would forget connotation and remember context. What the rest of you forget is that we STUDY population and we DEAL with individuals. A subtlety that escapes most social scientists. You must think of stereotype as a " picture " of a group that may be taken through a lens darkly. Many in the group will vary from the mean, significantly, but that still leaves a mean of behavior. That is why we deal with individuals. No one should be discriminated against because of some group trait average; an average he has no control over. The sooner you social scientists get this, the sooner we can truly address the problems emanating from so called " stereotyping ".

Answer 4

A stereotype exists because its true about someone in a generalized group. We make the mistake of associating the entire group, race, or kind with the actions of a few. Sure, some Asian people cant drive, some african americans like fried chicken, and some white people cant dance, but that holds true for many people outside the race as well.

Answer 5

Yes, I've often thought that there's a grain of truth to some stereotypes, and that's ok. White people can't dance, black people do love fried chicken and they are better at many sports, and jews are tight with money (and many of them are wealthy), and asians are better at math and science. Big deal! People these days get so worked up about being politically correct that they see these differences as being inequities. True equality is accepting differences, no matter how large or small - not ignoring them.

Answer 6

Generalizing is a useful skill sometimes: it helps us be able to navigate the world around us. The problem with racial stereotypes is that they are often generalized from a few people to many, many people. And if you think about people of a race that you know really well (say, your own) you will realize that there is a great variety of people within it. This is true of other races as well. So there are some white people who can't dance and there are some who can.

Answer 7

There maybe some consitencies in the stereotypes but they are not all particularly true. I mean I am black and I don't even like fried chicken. And one of my best friends is white and he is the best dancer I know. Stereotypes like most rumors start from pure solid fact. However stereotypes shouldn't define a particular person. Am I less black than the next african american because I do not favor Fried Chicken? And most stereotypes aren't all bad, many find them bad because they may lead to prejudice.

Answer 8

properly, i think of greater of stereotypes with looks. Like maximum Black human beings, Asian and Latino human beings have dark brown eyes and black or brown hair. White human beings and others comparable have lighter eye and hair colorations. nonetheless some Black and Latinos (like me) have lighter hair colorations (like aburn or pink) hair colorations and in some situations eco-friendly or blue eyes and hazle and lightweight brown. In my kin (who's Black/Jamaican) indexed under are some stereotypes that we do: We drink Kool-help like each and every of the time we adore fried fowl We gentle enssence different than that, no longer something lots I actually have a Asian buddy and the only stereotype is they are extremely short I don''t have many Latino friends actual now, yet thats all, different than that, we are all an analogous, yet additionally diffrent. wish it facilitates.

Answer 9

Racial stereotypes exist because of over-generalization. Stereotypes are there because there are some instances where a particular ethnicity behaves a certain way, and there's enough instances of that to warrant the stereotypes. But it is unfair to use a few examples to generalize and stereotype an entire racial group or ethnicity. The over-generalization happens because a racial stereotype gives people a template of looking at people a certain way, and one gets blinded to the exceptions to the stereotype, and the complexity and variety of how a group of people can behave.

Answer 10

Racial stereotypes exist because people need validation and getting it at the expense of others is common. The only thing true about stereotypes is that it functions as a simplification of people....just like classifying others based on race.

Reality isn't simple but it's easier to manipulate groups when you can target them and lable them. It's easier to see someone base on race as opposed to an individual. It takes the pressure off of individuals in achieving deep learning of and appreciation of difference.

So, unlike your question, the answer isn't simple.