Growing up on an Island in the middle of the Pacific, I was surrounded by minorities my whole life. I had the pleasure of growing up in a melting pot of cultures. I was able to interact, experience, and learn from different cultures, within the South Pacific Region as well as Asia. Looking back I can now see how the native people of Guam had a preconceived perceptions of those other cultures. Categoric knowing is defined as, the classification of others on the basis of limited information obtained visually and perhaps verbally (Parrilo, 6). Growing up I must admit, I was involved in categoric knowing and just did not realize it. I often looked at minority group and based all my perceptions of their people and culture, off of one group or …show more content…
Maybe it was because I wanted them gone or deep down I did not like what I saw. That however, led me to believe that all migrants and their people were bad. I based my decision solely on the acts of one group and never gave them a chance. That changed when I joined the US Army and I was serving right along those same migrants, I judged as being bad. They were there to help protect a country that had given them the opportunities of a better life and to give back for all they had received. That is the moment I realized that not all are bad, just some. I often think that we as a society want to find the bad in people of different ethnic backgrounds. It makes it easier to group them as a whole and blame them for the faults of a few. Take the Muslim community. In 2001, America was attacked by terrorists who happened to be Muslims and as a result most American’s now dislike the Muslim community as a whole. I am sorry as an American and a former service member, I do not agree with the categoric knowing that we have shown. I have served alongside Muslims and Americans all fighting for the same thing. Peace. Peace within our country and the world. As an ethnic group they want the same things that all people want. They want a chance to be free, educated, and to give back. All Muslim’s are not bad, just some. Is it fair that we constantly group them all as terrorists? No, they all contribute to the