Mexican American Stereotypes Essay

The definition of a stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing; but how does one learn such things? What kind of purpose do stereotypes serve? In this essay I will discuss and explain some origins of Mexican American stereotypes and what kind of purpose they serve.

As previously stated, the common definition of a stereotype is that it is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing, and stereotypes in particular are usually taught by figures of authority such as one’s parents and teachers but also one’s peers and the media one consumes. But oftentimes stereotypes are just overly generalized and cannot be applied to all kinds

Another stereotype portrayed in the movie is that people with Mexican American heritage are supposed to be stupid, lazy and unmotivated, which got disproven in the movie after Mr. Jaime Escalante started teaching the Algebra 1 class at the Garfield High School, whose students are from a Barrio, a poor neighborhood primarily inhabited by Latin Americans; who all were pretty unmotivated and their minds were pre-fixed on the thought that they couldn't achieve anything academically because of their heritage, but in the end Mr. Escalante managed to convince them of something else; That they in fact were capable human beings, and that they were in fact able to achieve their goals. Not necessarily a stereotype, but another obstacle the students from the Barrio face are their families. They hold them back, whether they do it intentionally or not is up for debate. The various ways the different families hold back their children are by obligating them to continue working in their family’s business, like in Ana’s case in the previously mentioned movie where her father tries to hold her back from pursuing a college career so that she can keep working as a waitress in her father’s