Stereotypes are Everywhere

When it comes to Stereotype, I believe everyone has a stereotype of something or someone based on their situation. Stereotype of an individual is very complicated and it's not something pleasant to see or witness as a human being. It degrades the value of that person or group of people. In the case of African Americans children today research has shown that they generally underperform compared to the Asian and European American peers on academic indicators. (Hines Shelvin, Kristal, RocГ­o Rivadeneyra, et Corinne Zimmerman.

В" Stereotype threat in African American children: The role of Black identity and stereotype awareness В", Revue internationale de psychologie sociale, vol. tome 27, no. 3, 2014, pp. 175-204.) This makes the African American children feel as though they are not important and causing them to disengage from education. It is why we need to be open minded and stop stereotyping people in general.

In an article I read 'Blackface: The birth of an American Stereotype' shows that the stereotype of black people is nothing new.

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In addition, it shows that people are willing to stereotype because they fear that they themselves are not important or good enough. Historian Dale Cockrell writes that, 'poor and working-class whites who felt 'squeezed politically, economically, and socially from the top, but also from the bottom, invented minstrelsy' as a way of expressing the oppression that marked being member of the majority, but outside of the white norm' ('Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype.' National Museum of African American History and Culture, 22 Nov. 2017, nmaahc.

si.edu/blog-post/blackface-birth-american- stereotype.) Historian Dale Cockrell explains that the poor and working white-class felt pressured that society of other white majority see them as worthless or not good enough.

So, they use the blackface as a way to paint a different picture of themselves, so that people can accept them because 'in creation of our national identity, 'American' has been defined as 'white.' Not to be 'white' is to be designated as the 'other' ---different, inferior, and unassimilable.' (Takaki, Ronald T., 1939-2009. A Different Mirror : a History of Multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1993.) The reason blackface is seen as a stereotype is because these poor working white-class people dress, act, dance and talk like black people. In addition, they characterize the blacks as lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, prone to thievery and cowardice. Furthermore, they use burnt cork or shoe polish to paint their faces black. In conclusion, I believe people need to come to an understanding that America is a diverse country and that we all came her for the same reason, which is to have a better life for us and our families. 'We slaughter one another in our words and attitudes. We slaughter one another in the stereotypes and mistrust that linger in our heads, and the words of hate we spew from our lips' (Nelson Mandela)