Based on Your Appearance

Brenda Garcia
Based On Your Appearance Today in one’s a community you would think that everybody is supposed to be treated equally. Maybe this does not happen everywhere, but there is no law that says it is acceptable for inequality to happen. However, inequality exists and the ones who suffer from it are mainly minorities. They suffer oppression from the dominant groups in society. In the text “Prejudice and Discrimination,” Warren J. Blumenfeld and Diane Raymond talks about how many people suffer from racism, stereotypes and prejudice. This mainly refers to the oppressed groups. These groups experience forms of racial injustice. They are pointed out by their skin color, their affiliations and views. In society, cultural imperialism appears where there is always a dominant group and the “other”. The dominant groups are mostly wealthy Caucasians, while the “others” are usually minorities. The group defined as the “other” shares different cultures as the dominant group. This marks the “other” invisible because they don’t share similar traits as the dominant group, making them inferior. The culturally oppressed ones then experience double consciousness, which creates two forms of identification. The first element begins when the oppressed is aware of what he/she is viewed by others and begins to conform to that idea. The other element is revealed when the oppressed experiences a stereotype, but instead of complying with this idea they decide to reject that it. The dominant groups’ culture at most times judge the “other’s” inferiority and their difference. As a consequence, by pointing out others for being different they start making themselves feel less than what they are. However, if the oppressed group chooses to reject their stereotypes it can be effective in the sense that they can stand up for themselves, ultimately preventing it from occurring again and improving the way their group is seen. The oppressed group does not share similar characteristics as