African American Stereotype Essay

737 Words2 Pages

Stereotypes about the African American culture have existed since dispersal of African descent, dating back to the colonial era. They have evolved from slavery, to black face shows, to the modern drug lords and welfare queens. But one stereo typed that has remained constant is that African Americans are inferior to white people in every aspect of life. Through this very stereo type black people are forced to combat prejudice and discrimination in their everyday routine. The stereotype that’s blacks are inferior to whites originated during the colonial era. According to Realist conflict theory the stereotypes about African Americans formed form the competition for limited resources between European settlers and slaves of African descent (Lecture Stereotyping and Prejudice are thoughts that can lead to negative actions such as discrimination which can lead to a decreased quality of life for any group in America. In a land that has based its constitution off life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is profoundly unacceptable. Through recognizing stereotypes, you will realize that your perceptions of a group are not always accurate, which will ultimately help to combat prejudice. It is possible to change the stereotype about black people. It first start with an attitude change in both Caucasian and black people. From the Caucasian perspective they must accept the fact that all humans have the mental capacity to be successful and to not subtype black people who exceed the societal expectation as atypical or non-representative of their group. And for black people you have to work on combating stereotype threat and self-fulfilling prophecy with actions such as embracing your racial identity and not classifying your abilities by the color of your skin. With the efforts of both groups a new norm can be socialized into the mind of society and America will no longer be hypocritical to the notion that it is land of the

Open Document