Essay on Racial Stereotype against Hispanic/Latinos in the U.S

Introduction

A common stereotype about the Hispanic or Latino in the U.S is the racial prejudice. A common mistake many people make is assuming that all the Latino individuals originate from the same cultural, ethnic and racial background while, in essence, they are of numerous identities as well as sub-groups. Also, by the virtue of someone referred to by the name a Latino/Hispanic, the popular culture in the U.S tend to think of them as poor a people from the rural environments, leaving in shanty towns, and possessing exotic indigenous behavior as well as technological and economic backwardness. Moreover, the fact that one comes from the mentioned sub-group is often associated with drug trafficking, rape, street violence, personality cults, corruption, disorganization, authoritarianism, catholic religion, personality cult, and revolutionary movements. This paper will specifically discuss the racial prejudice among the Hispanic/Latino in the U.S as one of the common stereotypes.

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A stereotype is a false and untrue generalization or a misleading assumption about a group, often held in a manner that if not entirely, then largely rendering immune to the contrary evidence (Blum, 2004). Also, according to Hinton (2013), the a stereotype is an idea that persists regarding a particular group, gender or individuals who have various physically identifiable features. These views are usually negative but positive in a few instances.

In this paper, I will establish the morals by relating a single hurtful personal experience regarding what a Hispanic dwelling in the United States may undergo due to racial prejudice and the verbal prejudice associated with such stereotype. From the statistics, the Hispanics represent the largest minorities in the United States of America. The same group plays an important role in the country's economy and even the international economy. The people need to realize that the common racial stereotypes about the Hispanic are ideas without any strong evidence to support generalization.

The Hispanic people in the U.S suffer racial prejudice, and this has been a huge issue in the country. People usually believe what comes from the word of mouth of, specifically, the big people in the society; leaders, politicians, et cetera. One of the great people who promote racism in the United States is Donald Trump. The media watches his every move and people cannot avoid knowing what he speaks as a politician. He referred to Mexicans, insinuating the Hispanic race in the U.S as criminals and drug dealers besides calling them, rapists. While some Latino or Hispanic subgroups may possess such characters, everyone knows that inclusivity of that manner is not right and demoralizes people. America in itself has a wide group of people from all over the world, and each individual from these groups make contributions to the life in America, whether good or bad.

Stereotyping makes those who impose stereotypes on others feel that they are superior and excluded in the misconception. For instance, a person may incriminate a person from a black origin by the fact that being black is associated with crime. However, it is important to realize that all groups of people, regardless of the race may have a character of stealing, and can become thieves. An individual who fails to understand this aspect can become a prey of bad characters from the race he or she feels are always upright.

The societies, cultures, and social organizations can promote stereotype in various aspects. Culturally, individually or any other form of generated stereotypes are all the same. Stereotypes are psychological and often promoted in individuals beginning from their childhood ages. A child who is brought up knowing that a Jew is cheap, women are emotional, a Black is lazy, and an Asian performs well in math is likely to stick to the idea he or she learns while still young. These children and the generation they live in are likely to carry forth the misleading general idea to the next generation, and the trend may continue. There may be a kernel of truth in the statements, but the idea of generalizing these groups is often wrong and demoralizing for the subjects who suffer negative stereotyping.

The roots of stereotyping are cultural, societal, and sometimes formal educational teachings from schools. Some parents bring up their children and teach them the norms and traditions according to their originating community. In some instances, communities who already display stereotyping ideas pass them to their children and in this way, the cultural background becomes a root of stereotyping. The system of education can also be a source of stereotypes, especially when teachers are not rightly equipped to handle stereotyping situations and conflicts that usually arise at schools. Sometimes, teachers themselves can be a source of stereotyping when they possess certain elements of stereotyping. It is very important to learn how to deal and avoid passing stereotypes from one generation to the other. People should judge each person as an individual and not as a group.

Stereotypes may hold the people who are stereotyped down. Racial stereotypes can affect the emotional and the psychological well-being of a person, especially, when in a group of those imposing stereotypes. In schools, a person who suffers being stereotyped because of his or her race may lose self-esteem and confidence in his or her undertakings or actions. On the contrary, some people may positively utilize the challenge and work harder to prove the imposers wrong. For instance, in a class where the Latino/Hispanic suffers criticism of academic failure by the reason of being from the Latino sub-group, such people tend to work harder and smarter than the rest so as to pass their exams.

According to Steele (2010), the five-step theory to deal with stereotypes includes identity contingency, encounter, stereotype, and stereotype threat analysis and finally reaction to the stereotype.

The stereotype threat is anxiety and fear as a result of stereotypes. Some Hispanics cannot perform particular tasks to perfection based on their race or gender.

The identity contingency in this analysis is the fact that I am a Latino/Hispanic. The encounter was when, as a Hispanic, I had to deal with the situations of being referred to as a drug dealer, violent, poor, and corrupt among others. The stereotype threat is people who view me as poor, academically weak, corrupt and meant to live in the shanty towns. I do react to these situations by feeling upset when people impose characters on me by the virtue of being a Hispanic.

Another issue that Hispanics encounter by the fact of being from the subgroup is that they are immigrants, not welcomed and therefore, suffer mistreatments. The threat of each of Hispanic is that they came to the U.S to steal jobs and bring problems to the society. As a Hispanic, I tend to be upset with the people who perceive me as such without bothering to ask for a chance to get to understand me well.

The Hispanics are also among those that the airport authority target and sometimes fail to verify their legal status. The assumption at the airports is that all the Hispanics are undocumented immigrants. The immigration authorities need to be fair and avoid generalizations that affect not only the targeted culprits but also the innocent parties (Love, 2013).

Conclusion

In conclusion, racial stereotypes and any form of stereotyping about the Hispanic subgroup and others affect them psychologically in one form or the other. The young generation should not be exposed to any form of prejudice as it negatively affects the relationship among groups in the society. According to Blake (2017), the discriminatory experience resulting from stereotyping should stop and there should not be any form of negative segregations in the society.

References

Blake, E. (2017). "The Brutal History of Anti-Latino Discrimination in America". Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/news/the-brutal-history-of-anti-latino-discrimination-in-america.

Blum, L. (2004). Stereotypes and stereotyping: A moral analysis. Philosophical papers, 33(3), 251-289.

Hinton, P. R. (2013). Stereotypes, cognition and culture. Psychology Press.

Love, D. (2013) "Why TSA Targets Blacks and Latinos". Laprogressive.com. Retrieved from: https://www.laprogressive.com/tsa-targets-blacks-latinos/.

Steele, C. (2013). "At the Root of Identity, from Whistling Vivaldi and Other Clues to How Stereotypes Affect Us"