The Effects Of Racial Stereotyping

1070 Words5 Pages

“When people rely on surface appearances and false racial stereotypes, rather than in-depth knowledge of others at the level of the heart, mind and spirit, their ability to assess and understand people accurately is compromised”(James A. Forbes). I know everyone has heard the saying don’t judge a book by it’s cover, and that saying really applies to stereotyping. Stereotyping means to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same. Even though some people think that stereotypes help make a quick judgement, people should not base their opinions of people on stereotypes because stereotypes can lead to racial profiling, unfair behavior and have long term effects on the people being stereotyped.
Racial …show more content…

Individuals perform inadequately in circumstances where they feel they are being stereotyped, and they were still more prone to be forceful and lacking in self-control even long after stereotyping occurs. If someone is given a stereotype it causes anger and insecurities, and will eventually get to the point where the person being stereotyped starts to believe that the stereotype is accurate. It affects the way people look and watch you. If someone stereotypes you as a mean person then they will ignore all the times you act nice but focus on the times when you act mean. Stereotypes make it more likely for that person to be ignored or excluded. When people are being stereotyped, others begin to stay away or not communicate if that stereotype is negative. Stereotypes are like a rumor, once one person hears it, everyone hears it and believes it until someone proves them wrong. No one deserves to be judged by a stereotype rather than their character and it has definitely gotten better, but still needs a lot of …show more content…

I can see why it would help you prepare for the worst, but that puts you in a position of fear because you are immediately thinking of the person in the worst possible way when they are most likely a good person. Most people agree that stereotypes are wrong, but are still guilty of doing it. Stereotyping is also kinda like lying. Everyone does it even if they don’t mean to, it’s just a flaw that is going to take some work to get under control in order to stop it. Stereotypes can help you stay clear of certain people, but that does limit you and who you know. You never actually know someone until you meet them. If you stay clear of every stereotyped group that you believe in then you will lose an opportunity of meeting someone who could turn out to be a great person. Stereotyping groups of people cause you to miss out on great people, force you to judge people before even meeting them and can lead to unfair punishments to people who don’t deserve it. If the world doesn’t stop stereotyping other people then we will end up in an even more divided and cruel country than we are already in. Even though some people think that stereotypes help make a quick judgement, people should not base their opinions of people on stereotypes because stereotypes can lead to racial profiling, unfair behavior and have