Ethnic Stereotypes
Torianna Thomas
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On a daily basis, many people are faced with stereotypes, racism, and discrimination. This is a very important subject, but many people are uneducated or oblivious, especially if it doesn’t pertain to their race as much as it does to others. Our world seems to be centered around race-related issues. Race should not be the reason our country is divided. If anything, our differences is what should bring us together. Until people learn to respect and accept people for their skin color, if that ever happens, our country will remain divided instead of uniting as one. Despite what many may think, all races face some type of discrimination and prejudice, no matter the amount or lack of pigment in your skin.
Every race and ethnicity belongs to a variety of stereotypes because many people make assumptions based off of the color of your skin. Stereotypes often pressure people to live up to those standards, whether or not they are good or bad. Catie Diyanni, who is caucasian, is a church friend of mine. “ As a white woman, I feel awkward. Awkward dancing, awkward joking, the way I dress and talk. For whatever reason, all these things have nothing to do with my skin color but our culture has made me super insecure. ‘Stop white people’ is a big stereotype right now and it is not okay.”, she said. People often label a race and that is very wrong because your skin tone does not define or effect your capabilities.
In many instances, black women are ridiculed for having certain features but people in other races could do the same thing and be praised. An example would be Kylie Jenner who is praised for having big lips when in fact, they are only temporary lip fillers, but black women often get made fun of for having that feature. She is white so she was praised but the black woman would get put down for the same thing. Scenarios like that are exactly what make some black women afraid to embrace themselves. Branshay Williams, a junior at Pickerington central said, “People think that I wear weave because I don’t have a lot of hair but I actually wear weave because I want to be versatile.”
The sad truth is that many people are often stereotyped based off of the actions of others in their race. For instance, Mariyam is a 16 year old high school student who is Sri Lankan. She wears a hijab and always gets strange looks, making her a target. Many who wear a hijab, have that skin color, or share that religion often gets labeled as a terrorist. People are so quick to label a person; she can’t be a terrorist for simply wearing hijab but that comes down to, like I said before, assumptions being made based off of the actions of others who share that same race. Mariyam said, “ People who aren’t white are seen as the enemy”
The white privilege in this country is very evident, in fact, it’s a bigger problem than people may think. “ I think denying white privilege in this country is pure ignorance. Most whites are aware, but feel stuck. It takes stopping, turning around, and walking against the current that has flowed for years,” says Catie Diyanni. A prime example of privilege would be of Brock Turner who raped a woman and only had to go to jail for a few months, and that definitely comes down to white privilege. He had money and his parents were successful and rich, so they got their son out of it. The sad part about it is that his parents didn’t think that he deserved jail time. The whole situation is unfair because if roles were reversed, there is a very good chance that a black man would have jail time for life.
All in all, the point of this story was to bring awareness to some of the race related issues in our country. It needs to change but that would take a lot of effort to turn away from our old ways, and be more accepting of all races. Our world needs peace but with all of the conflicts that arise due to our differences, I don’t think that can happen. The stereotypes, racism, discrimination and all of the in between need to end. I hope and pray that eventually, our world will come together.