from Nelson about st ereotypes, he states “stereotypes represent the traits that we
view as characteristic of social groups, and particularly those that differentiate groups from each other. . . Stereotypes are problematic because they are negative,
innacurate, and unfair – they would simply be part of the study of person
perception more broadly if they weren’t.” Nelson, 2009: 2 That is why stereotypes usually only consist of thought and perspective,
not scientifically proven facts as it tends to use overgeneralization and goes beyond evidence. Yet stereotype also has negative traits within generalization
toward groups or individuals.
d. Racial Stereotypes
A short explanation about racial stereotyping comes from a journal article by Laura Green that she wrote on the online zine from Virginia Commonwealth
University .
In her article titled “Stereotypes: Negative Racial Stereotypes and
Their Effect on Attitudes Toward African-Americans ”
,
she quoted a statement of racial stereotype from S. K. Jewel
’s that Racial stereotypes are constructed beliefs that all members of the same
race share given characteristics. These attributed characteristics are usually negative. Green, 1998-99
From the explanation above, racial stereotype is a belief constructed by the members of a race. The belief that usually goes into a negative perspective by
looking at the characteristics of a race, in this case is African American. Racial stereotypes indicate, lower standards for a group indicate lower expectations,
which lead to anchoring of within-group subjective rating scales at lower levels of a stereotyped dimension Nelson, 2009: 143.
Racial stereotypes are also automatic and exaggerated mental pictures that we hold about all members of a particular racial group. When we stereotype
people based on race, we do not take into account individual differences. Because our racial stereotypes are so rigid, we tend to ignore or discard any information
that is not consistent with the stereotype that we have developed about the racial group.
Overcoming Racial Stereotypes
, Sept 10, 2016.
C. Review of the History of African American in 1960s
The story of African Americans is a touching story. In beginning, African Americans first landed in Jamestown, Virginia in the 16th centuty, during the
colonial times. They were imported as slaves and treated as property to be bought and sold. Americans needed people who could work all the time with low pay.
During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, slavery became a national institution rather than regional institution
Encyclopaedia Americana,
1978: 28 The Africans who came to the land of America and became slaves
experienced a really tough life, lost their freedom in every aspect of life, such as losing freedom in citizenship, freedom in expressing emotions, and freedom in the
right to be humans. Americans generally assumed that blackness meant poverty, ignorance and lack of middle-class, and mainstream. Black people were regarded
as the poorest group of people and the most powerless part in the working class. They were defined as a racial group that had been made as subject to
discriminatory treatment because of race.
Ethnic Relations in America
, 1982: 50 According to Adalberto Aguirre, Jr. And Jonathan H. Turner, they state
that
