Stereotypes In Human History

Introduction: Examine different kinds of advertisements and the problem at hand with how they perpetuate stereotypes, such as; gender, race, and religion.

According to Franzoi (2008) stereotype is a general belief that classify people into one particular category and does not allow for variation in individual. The most common stereotype in general society is based on genders. Distinction between women and men has been around for a long time in general society. This distinction indicates construction or shaping (nurturing) processes given to a person rather than his/her inborn features. Women and men have been attached with particular characteristics, physical, personality, and cognitive. Women are commonly viewed as someone who is physically weak, whereas men are characterised as strong. Women are considered being irrational, emotional, soft, dependent and easy to cry. Meanwhile, men are rational, independent, and initiative. This is the reason for the presence of masculine and feminine

The revolutionary Civil Rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr, once described discrimination as “a hellbound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.” His point being that African Americans face racial discrimination on a daily basis. Brent Staples, being an African American living in America, expresses his view on the subject in his essay “Just Walk on By”, where he conveys the message of how fear is influenced by society's stereotypical and discriminating views of certain groups of people; his point is made clear through his sympathetic persona, descriptive diction, depressing tone, and many analogies.

In his essay entitled Black Men and Public Space (1987), Brent Staples talks about how people will have a common misconception on the black community by thinking that they are all mugger ,rapist or thugs.Staples supports his claim by telling the reader events/ stories that occured to him and talks about how people will assume that he is a danger to society when in reality he isnt. The authors purpose is to inform the reader that his experiences of being stereotyped is to show the reader his point of view when it comes to these types of situations.Staples writes in a formal tone for an intelligent or free minded person.

In the short story “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples, he talks about how because of his race he is feared and discriminated upon. While in New York, Staples walks during the night and is mistaken for a mugger or a rapist because of his race and his large figure. People are very hesitant in the world today because there has been such a great amount of crime. Staples sharing his stories of people’s reactions shows how many assumptions can be made about a person simply based on the color of their skin.

In the reading Just Walk on By by Brent Staples, the topic of racial stereotypes surfaces from the man who gets racially profiled quite often as he explains his personal experiences. The author bluntly tries to pass the message that racially judging people is wrong and explaining how it makes the other party ,african americans, feel. When analyzing Staples’ message his rhetorical strategies play a huge role into how his message is perceived. He uses influential diction allowing each word to give an impact unmatched by any white man who tried to convey a black man’s thought process. Staples also appeals to his credibility with the obvious observation that he is a black man talking about his real life experiences.

Everyday growing up as a young black male we have a target on our back. Society was set out for black males not to succeed in life. I would always hear my dad talk about how police in his younger days would roam around the town looking for people to arrest or get into an altercation with. As a young boy growing up I couldn’t believe some of the things he said was happening. However as I got older I would frequently hear about someone getting killed by the police force. It still didn’t click but I knew what was happening. Growing up police brutality wasn’t broadcasted as much as it should’ve have been. This then made me think about how to improve police brutality not only dealing with African Americans but also with other colored skinned people.

Though Brent Staples writes “Black Men in Public Space” in essay form, and Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” is a short story, both authors explore similar ideas about race, the power of racial stereotypes, and the harmful effect of them. Staples use of irony, and Morrison’s symbolic use of metaphor shows that every situation has multiple perspectives and to not look outside of one individual experience can often induce one to accept stereotypes as full truths. As Staples discusses the stereotypes attached to black males, he writes about “the alienation that comes of being ever the suspect”(2). The word suspect literally means a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offense, but here it is used in an ironic perspective. Staples really wasn’t

The strengths are that this reference does mention some very useful statistics and also the point of view of a black officer regarding racial profiling and traffic stops. A weakness is that an attorney is quoted, making a general statement that all police are racist, which is not accurate, however, it is prevalent. The main points are that Latinos and blacks are far more prone to injury/death at the hands of police in one particular coroner's office. Black leaders feel police should be able to carry out their jobs without violence. They feel it is not in their job description. It comes right out and states that police do use statistics that say which race is more likely to commit certain crimes, and they will look for those things when conducting traffic stops, which one black officer says he has no problem with. However, there's a point at which it becomes an abuse of power. Gail B Stewart, the author, received her undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College, and completed her

It was recorded nearly 2.6 million soldiers were sent to Vietnam to fight a gruesome war. About 58,000 of those 2.6 million soldiers perished by the time the Vietnam War was over (Vietnam War Statistics, 1997). These men had to live and die with strength, wits, impassive, and remorseless, all given by the society they were viewed in. Tim O’Brien a Vietnam War veteran born in Austin, Minnesota, was drafted into the war in 1968. He went through hell and back to write his book the Things They Carried (1990). With his experience, he shows how the war directly and indirectly changes a man through the repercussions of war. Soldiers in the Vietnam War embody a hyper masculine role that is constantly being exemplified throughout society, thereby

In the article, “From Trayvon Martin to Andries Tatane - Cognitive Dissonance and the Black Male Body [analysis],” author Gillian Schutte reflects on the ongoing issues of racial profiling and how many blacks are viewed as skin and surface level human beings. To connect this main point to a real life scenario, Schutte notes the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an innocent 17-year old boy who was walking home from a cafe, unarmed and posed no threat. Zimmerman, the gunman, viewed Martin as a threat, and proceeded to call the police five times to express his concern. Schutte addresses the issue that no matter where blacks are in society, they face danger from whites. Schutte describes how the people think the color of their skin determines their

Just Mercy is a beautiful in-depth view at the racial inequities within the justice system in America. It also explores countless other topics such as sex, gender, class and ableism. Within it’s pages it exposes the truths of a wrongly accused man, Walter McMillian. Other examples lie within the text as well, but McMillian’s glaring innocents is the main crux of Stevenson’s story. Throughout the novel Stevenson looks at the many facets of the human condition. Above all else he discovers the intersections of oppression that make innocent people prey for a vicious and cyclical justice system. Examples of these intersections are Walter’s own race, his ‘violent’ manhood, and his low economic standing. Herbert Richardson acts as another central

National Security within the United States has been a concern since the 1930s and is only heightened during times of war. Naturally, due to the conflicts with particular countries, World War II and the Cold War created racial stereotypes. Unfortunately, those stereotypes lead to racially bias legal doctrines being created within the United States . The court was not alone in shaping these doctrines, as there was immense pressure from both public and military interests. Particular cases, during WWII and the Cold War, can give examples of how people shouldn’t be treated and how, at the time, every man and women wasn’t truly created equal within the United States, that the 14th amendment was a written law but not properly

It was late in the afternoon and I knew I had to get home soon before it gets dark but I was nowhere near getting home yet. That's when I encounter two black African male walking toward me in the far distances. I then look around and notice I was alone with two tall African male walking in my direction. Fearing for the worse, I quickly took a sharp turn into a different street to avoid walking past them. Just as Staples said, “Its was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that I first began to know the the unwieldy inheritance I’d come to into -- the ability to alter public space in ugly way.” (239). It soon dawn upon me that although I may not know them, I had made a firm decision to avoid walking past them because I had judge them based on their race and appearances. Similarly to the woman that ran away from Staples because he was a tall black African male and the women had felt his presences to be threatening. In recent histories, the majority of African American are generally involved in gangs and crime, which is another common reason why numerous black African are being stereotype and misunderstanding in case similar to Staples. “Such episode are uncommon. Black men trades tales like this all the time.” (241). Although racial profiling happens to everyone on daily bases and has repeatedly cause misunderstanding about a person race, especially toward

Stereotyping is a way of categorizing certain groups of people or types of individuals with regards to gender, race, culture, religion etc. Stereotyping arises from prior assumptions due to influences by the media, history and personal experience. The statement: “To gain an understanding of the world we need to make use of stereotypes,” appears that stereotyping is required in order to really understand the world, and knowledge issues can be drawn from this statement: Does stereotyping prevent us from knowing someone truly and how are stereotypes created in the first place? One way to examine and discuss the knowledge issues is to look at different areas of knowledge, which in our case will be History and Human Science. Since the concept of stereotyping holds a broad scope, the essay will narrow down the focus to ethnic groups and their culture.