Stereotypes In A Talk To Teachers

“Today we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world,” (Stevenson). The prison population in the U.S. has grown extremely fast over the past three decades. With almost “six million people on probation or parole,” it is clear that there is a problem with our prison system (Stevenson). While most of these problems are exclusive to the prison system, one comes directly from society. Racial discrimination. It can be easy to overlook discrimination when it is not happening to you, but it is still a prevalent problem in both the prison system and society. Racial discrimination often starts at a relatively young age, which can often be traced back to the education system. “A Talk to Teachers,” by James Baldwin highlights the the oppression
It’s easy to to judge someone off of your first impression which leads to ignorance. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses this ignorance in her speech “The Danger of a Single Story”. Only knowing one side of a person’s story is dangerous and can lead to harmful stereotypes. This is especially true for African Americans, there are many stereotypes in our society that can make it difficult for African Americans to succeed. Adichie experience this when she comes to the U.S. for college. Her “roommate had a single story of Africa,” one filled with many stereotypes and beliefs that were not true (Adichie). In our society, the most harmful stereotypes are typically about African Americans. These stereotypes often create racial discrimination and are very prevalent in the prison system as well. Only having a single story of a person is incredibly dangerous, because it causes us to judge that person based on that single story. In the prison system, prisoners are often reduced to their “worst acts,” creating harmful stereotypes that prevent prisoners from moving on after finishing their sentence. Knowing that every person has more than one story is necessary in lessening racial discrimination both in society and the prison system. Learning that there is more to a person than their worst acts and understanding their history and background is the most important step in breaking down racial