Human beings are prone to naturally evaluating everything they come across, and by evaluating others, they try to gain direction and insight of people. Stereotypes are ideas or views that people have over something or someone that mostly happen to be wrong. They can be called cognitive structures which have one’s beliefs, expectations, and knowledge about different human groups. In the United States, it is seen that whites have held some stereotypes about the black community. This results from the consequences of racism and legal challenges to the blacks’ citizenship and personhood. In most cases, people of colour receive a form of treatment that depicts discrimination, and this can be seen in different sectors such as education, healthcare, child welfare, and criminal system (Bordalo et al., 2016). This study, therefore, examines stereotypes which are held about the black community as well as provide possible sources which negate those stereotypes.
In the US education system, blacks face a lot of discrimination. In the article “Tackling the black troublemaker” Okonofuo states that teachers view the black children as troublemakers and for that reason, the number of black kids who go for suspensions is three times higher than that of the whites (Yasmin, 2017). However, the fact that Google and its partners took the initiative to invest in Okonofuo and his research team negates the aspect of discrimination. Further, the head of the organization states that their objective is to diminish the damage that unconscious bias can bring on the educational outcomes of students.
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In the criminal justice system, racial discrimination in the US is prevalent and deeply rooted. The black people are overrepresented in offending, victimization and through all the processes of criminal justice right from arrest, detention, sentencing, and confinement. However, some researchers argue that overt discrimination has gradually decreased over recent decades. A study indicates that blacks have no confidence in the police and given that they believe that blacks are always victims of circumstances pushes them to crime hence they are prone to harassment and verbal abuse by the police (Sydney, 2007). Moreover, studies of police shootings on some places indicate no evidence of racial discrimination.
Given that stereotyping is an issue that needs elimination, it is essential to accurately measure the nature and level of stereotyping and prejudice of African-American in the society so as to intervene commendably. By exploring how stereotype is formed and dissipated as well as creating awareness on inaccurate stereotypes, a resolution on the community levels can take place.
References
Bordalo, P., Coffman, K., Gennaioli, N., & Shleifer, A. (2016). Stereotypes. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(4), 1753-1794
Sydney, S (2007) Race, Ethnicity, and the Criminal Justice System: ASA series on how race and ethnicity matter.
Yasmin, A. (2017) Tackling the ‘black troublemaker’: School Stereotype
