Race Changers Challenge #2 (this is easier to think about)

Race Changers Challenge #2:

We have all made generalizations at one point or another. This is natural considering the number of stereotypes we have to filter on a daily basis, and given that we have all been trained to make generalizations and subscribe to stereotypes from a very young age.

Reflect by answering the following questions in writing:

• Was there a time that you made a generalization and were proved wrong?
• Do you find yourself subscribing to any stereotypes now?
• If you do find yourself giving in to any stereotypes, why do you think you believe them to be true?
• Can you point to any instances where the stereotype does not hold true?

Generalized and Wrong:
Hmm...my generalizations center around whether or not to trust white people. Sometimes I think a white person's a total bigot from the jokes they make or the way they dress. I've met people who have debunked that assumption personally, but it took me a while to understand them. I generally think all conservatives are repressed racists/sexists, but they only keep up political correctness to appear human. However, I have friends who identify as conservatives and are nothing like my assumptions. Some of them are even my best friends. Political leanings just may not be a great judge of a person's character. You can't judge the book by its cover, pretty much...


Stereotypes To Which I Subscribe:
White food servers are fake nice and they think no one can tell it.
Groups of people in general are unreliable and can't be trusted; individual thoughts inevitably cause fractures in the unity.
Biracial Asian-Caucasian couples/children have it much easier than most other biracial combinations.
White gay males are often misguided about exactly how oppression works and why it matters.
When people are online, they completely lose the ability to argue rationally. (Hell, that even applies offline.)
Cats are cute no matter what and are always cuter than dogs.
Unless they're in chili or black bean sauce, beans are nasty as hell.
Most professors do not grade with neutrality.
Most white people want to be around people that agree with them or listen to them unequivocally. However, there's often no mutuality of agreement or indication they listen in return.

Why I Think Some Stereotypes Are True:
This question is a trap! A trap I say!
Stereotypes make thinking about others easier. It's much easier to expect the worst and be proved completely wrong than to walk in vulnerable and allow things to blindside you. I think stereotypes are a defense tactic, and while they pretend to have intelligent roots, they do nothing but quell irrational fears of unacceptance and danger in unfamiliar surroundings. They're opiates that prevent engagement.

Stereotypes Do Not Hold True When:

• uttered about another group by a group that has expressed open hostilities about them in the past (*ahem*)
• when the claims are trivial/unmeasurable ("white men can't jump;" "black men are more aggressive")
• when the sample size is ridiculously huge (see examples under "trivial/unmeasurable")
• when the person advancing a stereotype has to make constant "exceptions" for people who exhibit characteristic A but don't execute behavior B
• when the stereotype enters taboo status ("Hehe, this may be weird, and it's probably wrong, but: do black men REALLY have bigger...you know?!")
• piggybacking on that: when the people perpetuating the stereotype can't plainly say the details of it
  

Yeah, this entry contains a lot of hypocritical identifications, but...well, it's honest. Shit.