Stereotypes: The Idea Of Unintentional Racism

1. According to Merriam-Webster, racism is “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, or racial prejudice or discrimination.” With that being said, prejudice is a “preconceived judgment or opinion, or an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics.” Stereotype is defined as “an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic.”
I believe racism still exists today, even if people seem to think it doesn’t. From watching the news, I’ve seen that people of color usually face a harsher punishment
Since there are books, humor on T.V. or by comedians that joke about racism or say racist things to be funny and not mean any harm, they actually do mean harm and highlight stereotypes. According to an article on Everyday Feminism’s website, it says “This is the idea of unintentional racism: there are socially conditioned things we do and say that don’t register as offensive or oppressive to us — but they absolutely are to so many others.” Since I wasn’t aware that I was doing it, I believe it to be unconscious/unintentional racism. Jean Moule writes in her research article that this is an “example of ‘blink of the eye’ racism. Such unconscious biases lead to unintentional racism.“ I wasn’t thinking this sort of thing to be mean or hurtful towards a certain group of people. I didn’t wake up that day thinking I would be racist or think stereotypically. I think everyone goes through unintentional racism at one point, whether they are aware of it or
A professor that I had in junior college would be the definition of a “good” individual that ended up collaborating with racism. She was very outgoing, supportive of her students, and always spoke her mind – that was just who she was. One day, one of the basketball players (who happened to be black) got up in front of the class and gave his speech. At the end of class, I overheard her tell him how surprised she was that he could speak so well, without any slang, and praised him on how well he dressed compared to the “others.” To me, this seemed very racist of her to say – she’s a professor that is suppose to be encouraging students, no matter what color their skin is. She isn’t a racist person and always supported the racial groups with their activities, so I think she fell in the category of unintentional