stereotypes

I’m frustrated by stereotypes and the fact that there are so many of them and so many avenues for them to be perpetuated, even in the context of a Mennonite University. We watched a video in one of my classes today that showed how a young African American man was disciplined in his high school for getting upset with his teacher who confiscated his hat. As we sat there watching, it suddenly hit me that a roomful of mostly middle class, small town or rural, white Mennonites were watching an African American student flip out on his teacher in a way that was portrayed as somewhat irrational- especially since we were missing a lot of the context. Stereotypes that have been portrayed in movies and TV shows and even the news were being perpetuated in a university classroom setting. I didn’t even know how to respond. Maybe I was being irrational for being somewhat frustrated with the choice of video my professor made.

Why is it that the media only shows one side of people? And why is that side seen as bad? It seems like it’s really easy for a video like that to make people think that the cultural differences (which do exist, mind you) between whites and blacks are vast enough that whites should shy away from interacting with blacks. Honestly, if my classmates had pre-existing stereotypes of blacks as irrational fighters with attitude problems, I’m pretty sure they were perpetuated in such a way that would prevent them from stepping out to get to know their African American classmates. I should put out the disclaimer, however, that I don’t know the true nature of what was going on in that video; I’m just another white person frustrated with the stereotypes, and still somewhat small-minded.

I think the differences surprise people, too. Case in point: A while back some friends of mine (again, white-middle class- rural or small town-Mennonites) were passing around a cell phone that displayed a text message in which an African American student communicated in his “Black English” dialect rather than Standard Written English (aka “Standard White English”). I felt like they were looking at a picture of two cows kissing or something: their reaction was intrigue and mild amusement, chuckling at how different it was from the way they communicate. Why is it so weird when people talk differently from us? Why can’t they make the effort to interact with people who are different from them so that it’s not weird or foreign anymore? When people view the way other people talk, dress, and act as something completely foreign so that witnessing it produces the same reaction as watching circus animals, we have an incredible cultural divide that needs to be addressed. This experience also made me acutely aware of how segregated whites and blacks really are; especially at small private universities, whites like me are the limited few who go to high schools where there are minorities in substantial numbers. I wonder why…. * And then we say that racism isn’t a problem anymore.

*indicates sarcasm, in case you didn’t catch it.