Stereotyping African Americans
In today's society many racial groups are stereotyped; African Americans, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans are among the most frequent racial groups stereotyped against. American journalist Walter Lippman in his book "public opinion" first introduced the modern usage of the word stereotype in 1922. (Gray 1) The context of this paper will focus on African Americans in the United States and how they have faced many adversities and have struggled to gain equality in the United States. The degree of which white endorse negative stereotypes of blacks not only biases judgments of blacks verses whites as welfare recipients in criminal suspects, but also affects the way they respond to counter-stereotypical information about the target. (Peffley 1) Negative stereotypes of African Americans have been deeply ingrained in Anglo American culture ever since Africans were first brought to this country in chains. The stereotypes served an essential purpose; they justified Anglo enslavement of Africans. The captured Africans were presented as dangerous and violent and as pagans who would benefit from the civilizing influence of Christian slaveholders. They also were presented as feckless, ignorant, child-like beings that needed the fatherly care of the slave owner. (Martindale 3)
One of the most recent problems occurring today is racism in the media. Stereotyping in television and movies has reached its zenith and it has prolifically increased since the early 90's. (Martindale 2) Images from these mediums constantly bombard American children with negative and unrealistic portrayals of African American life or deny the existence of African-Americans in a true "American society at all". (Grey 2)
One of the most famous examples of internalization of stereotypes is the experiment first used in the case of Brown vs. the Board of education in 1954. The Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the "separate but equal" clause was...
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