What is the Truth About Stereotyping? 

By Grethel Montenegro 

(This is an article written by one of my journalism students in response to a contest sponsored by 

http://straightscoop.org/edu_join.htmlwhich also supplied sources for finding information on its web site.)

With so many problems facing the world today it is nice to know that there is one thing we don't have to worry about is stereotyping. Unlike the past generations, members of the younger generation are much smarter and would never judge someone without having the actual facts. We are a generation that is more tolerant of each other and is able to judge a person by their character instead of their ethnic background. If you actually believe that the above statement describes you, then take the quiz below and see how well you use accurate factual information to judge a person.

1. Of all the current crack users in the U.S., more are black than white. True or False

2. Most studies indicate that Hispanics/Latinos have higher rates of lifetime use of alcohol, stimulants and hallucinogens than non-Hispanic/Latino whites. True or False 

3. Hispanic/Latino youth ages 12 to 17 report higher rates of cocaine use than their non-Hispanic/Latino counterparts. True or False

4. Urban African American youth, 12 to 17 often begin abusing alcohol and other drug later than their white, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American peers. 

True or False

5. There are more young African American men in prison than in college. 

True or False

6. Most drug users in the United States are black or Hispanic. 

True or False

7. About half (41 to 62 percent) of Native American youth have tried marijuana. True or False

This information was obtained from www.straightscoop.org 

Answers:

1. False 2. False 3. True 4. True 5. False 6. False 7.True

Several Lane students of Black, Hispanic, Haitian and Asian backgrounds spoke about the experiences they had with stereotyping.

According to Clevita Francis a junior here at Lane stereotypes are found in every society. She has personally encountered stereotyping, when she was traveling with her debate team. People were looking at her and at her team like they were not good enough just because her debate team is composed only of minorities. She has also been a guilty of stereotyping, she once believed that all Jamaicans smoked weed, Hispanics were on welfare and Blacks were lazy, criminals.

Anthony Serrano, a sophomore at Lane believes that stereotyping exists because people always feel a certain way about a group of people without really knowing who they are. Anthony said that he feels that everyone faces prejudices, not just minorities. He also said that stereotypes are not always negative. 

Senior Joshua Alcide feels that Lane has a problem with stereotyping. He has even been a target of some negative stereotyping. He has been accused of using voodoo just because of his Haitian background. Joshua feels that any kind of stereotyping is negative because he feels that "It is wrong to accuse a whole race of specific behavior when only a small group is to blame."

I also interviewed an Asian-American Freshman who wished to remain anonymous. He told me that he has been a target of a lot of negative and positive stereotypes. A positive stereotype that he has encountered is when people meet him they automatically think that he is very intelligent and that he has no other interests but school. But then sometimes people assume that he cannot speak proper English and that he eats foods like cats or rats. He also said that he has been very hurt by stereotyping and that he wishes that people would be more tolerant of different races. He also added that he wished that people would judge him by who he is and not by his ethnic background.

The students I interviewed have encountered lots of stereotyping; they were not judged by their character but by their ethnic background. Are you one of those people who are guilty of stereotyping people because of their race?