Psycology in Crash

Discrimination is by definition a generalized form of racial determination, where certain traits are agreed to exist more predominately within particular social groupings (Zack 16). Harris believes that this inevitably leads to the creation of a hierarchy of traits, where more positive traits are allotted to certain groups, and thus a hierarchy of social groupings, for example racism (74). Zack explains that the distribution of traits is established by cultural upbringing (16). Individuals experience an event and interpret it according to their social expectations determined by cultural background (Devine 245). The result is conformity of stereotypes within a culture. Cameron Thayer, a black movie director in Crash, forms a stereotype that white police officers are corrupt through the interpretation of an event. The cultural precedent that is established within the black culture is voiced literally by his wife, and shapes the formation of his stereotype. The example emphasizes that culture is a dominant factor in the formation of stereotypes and precipitates the translation of individual stereotypes to social generalizations. The answer to overcoming the social standard of discrimination must bypass the cultural, social, and personal background that one gathers throughout their lifetime (Devine 247).
The problem with overcoming discrimination is that they occur automatically unless the antagonizer consciously remains vigilant to react without regard for stereotype. Devine believes this requires considerable energy and makes this sort of direct approach seem impractical (Devine 247). Hicks agrees that it would require instead an indirect approach that attempt to destroy the social foundations of discrimination by promoting interculturalism to invalidate stereotypes (505). He draws this conclusion from a Peruvian model that eliminates generalization by promoting "harmonious equilibrium" that minimizes the compositional nature of the modern social unit (Hicks 505).