Reading Journal #4

"The Personal Experience of Prejudice and Discrimination"

This chapter shed new light on the concept of stereotypes, prejudice, and bigotry. We have already discussed how we have internalized racism, but what about internalized stereotypes? If race is culturally and societally established, then so are the thoughts that go along with the ideas, both negative and positive. The one facet I pulled away from the reading was that stereotyping is employed so that people may organize information from the world around them. In other words, stereotyping makes things easy to understand. We separate people into these different groups and think certain aspects apply to all members of that group; instead of looking at the individual, people look at the mass group and think one feature is a characteristic of all members. For instance, I enjoyed reading the materical on "model minorities." Asian people are a perfect example of this thinking by the dominant culture. They are viewed in a postive light on the bases of respect and intelligence, for example, but these views can often turn negative. The text states that these stereotypes are quite resstant to change, that society tends to hold the same views and thoughts for many years. They are difficult to shake and solidify prejudices.

One feature of the chapter that I found intiguing/frustrating/strange was the actual development of racism, prejudice and bigotry. Newman claims that calling someone a racist or a bigot individualizes them and takes the cruelty away from the larger social systems that create it. Without question, this is true. Society is defintiely the root of all racism and prejudice which is why we think the way we do; our thoughts are culturally bound. But, then, is that not prejudice? Is not calling a group racist because a large number of members, but not all, stereotyping them and degrading their status? I believe that individuals can be racist, and that society sometimes has little to no effect on how we think about or view others. I feel as though calling an individual a racist or bigot is, in many instances, better than claiming a group to be so. Though groups hold far more sway and power than individuals, we cannot say that all members of a group are placed in a negative light. If most are, then we can see how they would be stereotyped against because it is easy to place them in one group. However, we cannot call an entire group racist if some are not and then expect things to chnage in this country.