Stereotypes By Which We Judge People

Over the course of human evolution, we have developed a wide variety of useful social tools and responses. One such tool is the ability to break down threats to their most basic elements, in an effort to detect and identify them easily. An example of this is how we characterize other human beings. Presumably useful in a tribal setting where being able to differentiate between your friends and enemies is crucial, we have developed a very strong ability to stereotype different groups of people. We find common denominators in the behavior of different populations around us and assign them a label to try and predict their next move.

Often, we judge people by their group, as opposed to on an individual level which is problematic, because it assumes that the individual is incapable of straying from attributes that their group showcases. Fear makes us label people in an effort to predict their actions and avoid threats. Frequently, stereotyping people works to our advantage and is not harmful. You might ask a man in a police officer’s uniform for directions if you are lost, because you would assume he knows the way. You probably wouldn't ask someone who looks homeless about the housing market in the area. However using broad stereotyping, especially when your dealing with race and religion, can often cause problems.

Reporter and columnist, Brent Staples, in his article, Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space accounts a time when he was stereotyped based on his race while killing time in a jewelry store. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash. She stood, the dog extended toward me, silent to my questions The woman in Staples’ anecdote had a tribal reaction to this situation and applied her preconceived notion that black men have negative intentions and are likely to steal. Of course the author doesn’t fit this description, but he acknowledges why she might have had such a reaction. Staples points out in another paragraph, I understand, of course, that the danger they perceive is not a hallucination.

Women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence. The stereotype is there for a reason, but of course to judge Brent Staples as part of a group was unfair. Race, however, is not the are in which an ugly stereotype can stick to members of a group. Evan Soltas and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, in the article The Rise of Hate Search highlight the fact that, In November, there were about 3,600 searches in the United States for I hate Muslims and about 2,400 for kill Muslims.

Obviously at the moment some Americans have a negative attitude towards Muslims, because of radical islamic terrorism. One undeniable common denominator with many of today’s terrorists is Islam, and some have become weary of all Muslims as a response. The authors note that While hate searches were about 20 percent of all top searches about Muslims before the attack, more than half of all search volume about Muslims became hateful in the hours that followed it. This clearly dictates that when another islamic terrorist attack occurs, it only reaffirms some Americans’ unfair assumptions. Fear of another person being a potential threat causes us to wall ourselves off from other types of people. From birth we prefer people that look like us and see them as more trustworthy. However, these days we are exposed to all sorts of different folks, and we can’t stick with only people that think and look like we do anymore. We should all be aware of when our outdated tribal instincts are shining through the fabrics of modern social interaction.