Social Justice: Prejudice And Discrimination

Over the span of hundreds of years these stereotypes have developed and now help define groups of people. A stereotype is not necessarily a true statement or it may not describe every person in a race but due to popular belief it has become this way. Some people tend to believe that stereotypes are correct and they judge races according to them. When a person is asked to describe someone from a specific race, they will most likely state multiple stereotypes that for most are not even true. This becomes the reason for most racial profiling and increases the barrier between people.

Stereotypes are simple images or beliefs over the attributes assigned to a particular social group, are models of behavior that become schemes deeply rooted in our mentalities to the point that we adopt them as part of human naturalness. Stereotypes can be racial, religious, sexual and social. These could be the caused of a known incident or attitude years earlier, or simply the result of frequent rumors. Stereotypes can affect different spheres of society. These assumptions can filter into many aspects of life.

The concepts of stereotyping and ethnocentrism have several common points. Typically, stereotypes are commonly in the categories of sex, race, age or profession and occurs when there is different traits and behaviors identified. The textbook states, “The difficulty arises when stereotypes carry a negative valence and are used to overgeneralize negative traits to an entire group of people when, in reality, few members of the group actually possess such traits” (Neuleip, 2015, Para. 2 p.g. 188). Ethnocentrism can be identified as, “the tendency for any people to put their own group in a position of centrality and worth while creating and reinforcing negative attitudes and behaviors toward out-groups” (Neuleip, 2015, Para.

One of these activities is a group project that requires a number of students to think of a stereotype and explain it to everyone using a poster. The purpose of this activity is to show students that stereotypes, and attitudes associated with those stereotypes, are usually inaccurate. The stereotype the group picks never accurately compares with an actual person that falls under the stereotype. Ridding people's’ minds of these misconceptions is a monumental step in stopping prejudice and

For the past couple of centuries, racial stereotypes have been a problem that many have faced, and are still facing, throughout the world. Many people question what stereotyping is and how it affects people. Racial stereotyping is when a person judges another person based on their race’s fixed characteristics (Pickrell). To this day, racial stereotypes have gotten out of hand and continue to cause not only racism, but also segregation. People today use negative assumptions against African Americans, Latinos and other races.

A stereotype is a fixed set of beliefs upon of a certain group of individuals who share common traits. Stereotypes can be classified into a wide range of categories such as: race, culture, ethnicity, gender, social or economic status, and religion. A stereotype has to do with a group of people rather than an individual. Most stereotypes are biased and untrue. Stereotypes often lead to prejudice, meaning that one acts a certain way due to the fixed beliefs they have toward a certain group of individuals.

The act of stereotyping is assuming that all members of a group have similar knowledge, behaviors, or beliefs simply because they belong to a group. Using stereotypes is one of the most common reasons why countless people are misjudged. It can occur with the person’s knowledge or it can happen subconsciously. Sometimes, in writing, authors will form stereotypes for their characters to fit into. By using a stereotype, it sets a base for the character to build off of and show change.

‘Belonging to racial equality and a sense of social justice is difficult to achieve’ Throughout the ages racial inequality and social injustice have been prevalent. Equality and justice play a large part in defining our social and internal belonging, as it helps forge connections with those around us. However though the centuries racial equality and social; justice have been hard to achieve, even now in the modern era. However, both social justice and racial equality have made large steps in the right direction; change has occurred but racial inequality still exists.

In today’s society, individuals and groups are labeled with either positive or negative stereotypes. People encounter stereotypes everyday and everywhere. It is the picture people paint in their minds when approaching a group or individual when in fact it may be different in reality. Stereotypes affect a person’s way of living and thinking either in a negative or positive way. Stereotypes are based on truth but in an exaggerated way, while misconceptions are formed from having stereotypes.

Stereotyping is a crucial tool towards human beings. People can be much attached to the idea of stereotypes, because they tend to gather and back up their stories from their own experiences. And people are all guilty for creating a single story, whether it’s on purpose or not. How would people see the world if there was no such thing as a “single story”? In her speech, “The Danger of a Single Story”, Chimamanda Ngozi Achidie, is a writer from Nigeria, and she defines herself as a storyteller.

All Asians are good at math, all blondes are dumb, all Muslims are terrorists - these are all common stereotypes. Without even realizing it, stereotypes have undeniably played an enormous role in individual lives. Minds seem to already set a certain image in them based on the people they encounter. People judge others by their skin tone, ethnicity, and physical appearance unconsciously, and this have been proven by many social experiments. Of course, though these stereotypes might be accurate at times, there are situations where they are completely defied.

People get categorized by stereotypes everyday just by outward appearances or the group of people they are associated with. A stereotype is a preconceived notion about a group of people. People form fixed images of a group that are assumed that all group members act and behave is a particular way. A person essentially gets stereotyped by being “guilty by association” of a particular group. All stereotypes get based off of a bit of truths that all group members similarly have.

Today, we are living in a very complex social environment. In today’s society, people are stereotyped in many different ways depending which category an individual is located in. Haven’t you been stereotyped at some point in your life? Or you may have stereotyped someone without even noticing it. Stereotyping is actually more serious than we thought and it is becoming a major problem in our society today.

According to Lippmann, “stereotypes are ‘pictures in our heads’ that we use to apprehend the world around us” (16). Stereotypes can be formed due to effects of media, as Wood describes media as pervasive, powerful and influential (31). Hence, stereotypes can be defined as inaccurate perceptions towards a group of people or community that is strongly influenced by the media. Whether positive or negative, stereotypes are usually false as they are formed based on personal judgments, which are biased or exaggerated. When stereotypes are consistently portrayed in media platforms, they subconsciously form and maintain assumed identities for the stereotyped groups.

There are many concepts that underpin discrimination and many theories to draw from this paper will detail and explore the definitions, concepts, and theories such as Stereotyping, Social Identity Theory, and Conflict Theory which are all to the fore in prejudice and discrimination. It will seek to examine current research and suggest strategies based on best practice and evidence to combat discrimination and prejudice within organisations to allow for a healthy productive workforce. Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect negative attitude in the direction of an individual based exclusively on the individual’s affiliation with a social group, a prejudiced person might not act on their attitude.