Racial Stereotyping: A Rigid Issue in an Interconnected World - Essay Sample

Introduction

By far, the issue of stereotyping across intersections of race has become rigid, with most people ignoring its influence in the society. Through interaction with other occurrences such as prejudice and discrimination, the issue of racial stereotyping remains a problem across different cultures as people are different under the scope of height, , skin tone, hair color, and other physical appearances. With the different community coexistence and daily interaction, it is inevitable for people to conceptualize and develop a sense of value for specific configuration and may choose to act on these interactions. According to Nasir, stereotypes are typically derived from truths that are later distorted, such that they are unreal. In racial stereotyping, people develop a particular type of relation and perception as they hold a specific mental view, which in most cases is exaggerated about a given race (Nasir et al. 492). This paper will describe the problem of racial discrimination, provide a solution to the problem, and different counter-arguments surrounding both the problem and the solution.

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The Problem and Solution

For a while now, racial stereotyping remains a common problem in communities not only in the United States but across the globe. In this case, the issue involves the negative implications of stereotyping caused by different types of media. Psychologists have come up with several theories and methodologies related to combating racial stereotypes. From research and the tested methodologies, a three-step solution that involves three tenets: Education, Accommodation, and Motivation (EAM) can be used as the solution to this problem. Also, the same media can be used to positively encourage people to become aware of their inner thoughts and how it might affect their actions. The media should support factual information by engaging the people in honest discussions about the racial and cultural differences to avoid misperceptions about a specific race, which could result in stereotyping. Although it might be challenging to understand racial stereotyping without identifying the process in which stereotypes are formed and the impact of racial stereotyping on society, it remains a problem since most people are contrary affected both physically and mentally.

Often, People get to know about other religions, communities, societies, and races through media. From research, many consumers of media get exposure of sorts to cultures and races that they would not have encountered in their day to day lives (Fiske 792). As the media continues to act as the pedestal that introduces its consumers to information regarding other groups, it might provide conflicting or wrong information about a given race. Research shows that the former has a lot of influence on its consumers in the social and psychological scopes. How information is portrayed in these platforms is essential in that it is possible to influence the school of thoughts and create impressions to viewers about races. Despite some people having mental capacities and cognitive abilities, the false information they consume regarding races gets reinforced to become something 'real.' Such occurrences make this issue of racial stereotyping a sensitive problem in society, with the media being one of the significant propagators of false perceptions. According to Nairn et al., various studies signify the contribution of media in marginalizing specific cultural and ethnic groups by presenting them as threats and problems to the dominant groups (Nairn et al. 183-196).

In the first tenet of education, as part of the proposed solution, people should be educated about the racial difference and distinguish between the facts and myths. In education, it entails increasing one's awareness of racial stereotypes, how they affect people, and measures of combating it. Knowledge of different races, existing types of racial stereotypes, the process in which stereotypes are formed, and the implications of racial stereotyping broaden the mind and open up new possibilities that people never knew existed. A powerful tool that helps people know about other religions, communities, societies, and races is media. In a particular study by Forrest et al., they found that racial discrimination can be countered through school as teachers support cultural diversity and multicultural education (Forrest et al. 618-638).

In the second tenet involving accommodation, it is meant to support education since education alone would not be enough to combat racial stereotyping. Human beings are bound to interact in many ways in their daily activities. The need for establishing relationships that are productive and healthy with people from other racial groups is imperative to creating equal-status relationships as opposed to dominant and subordinate ones. The ability to accept other social groups to be equally important and unique in different capacities is known as accommodation. At some point, individuals could be encounter racial stereotyping from their languages. The use of language is one of the easiest ways to understand an individual's background and race. However, this brings about the application of accommodation in solving the racial stereotyping problem.

According to the accommodation theory, it offers that behavior changes that individuals make are based on their communication with other people (Ylanne-McEwen et al. 191). It means the accommodation theory would significantly aid in managing rapport as individuals from different cultures interact (Ylanne-McEwen et al. 191). The proposed solution encourages accommodation through increased racial interaction. Racial interactions will make people see that other people from different racial backgrounds are not as bad as stereotypes make them. Accommodation is achieved when people from different races become self-aware and respect how other groups are shaped to avoid forming false impressions. Also, social imbalances should be offset in situations where one race appears to be dominant than the other. Being diverse in institutions and organizations will reduce stereotypes (Ylanne-McEwen et al. 191). For example, white children in mixed-race schools are less stereotypical and prejudiced when compared to white children in all-white schools.

In the third tenet of the proposed solution, which involves motivation, it could significantly help address the problem of racial stereotyping. When people from different racial backgrounds interact successfully in a healthy manner, they get motivated to interact more and help others overcome the retrogressive implicit racial biases. According to Plant and Devine, they imply that internal and external motivation plays a significant role in response without any implication of racial stereotypes or prejudice (Plant and Devine 811).

Motivation breaks stereotyping through several techniques: Individuating, stereotype replacement, contact, perspective-taking, and counter-stereotypic imaging. Individuating refers to how people view others as individuals other than paying heed to stereotypes; Stereotype replacement refers to how one comes up with different ideas that are not stereotypic to deal with stereotypes; Contact involves going out there and being social to victims of racial stereotypes; Perspective-taking consists in wearing the shoes of a stereotype victim, and counter-stereotypic imaging consists in taking into account people who were victims of racial stereotypes whose cases did not match a certain stereotype.

Counter-Argument

However, in counter-argument, the opponents of this solution suggest that the only way to counter issues of racial stereotypes is through talking explicitly about race and various effects that are connected to racial stereotyping. According to the opponents of the solution, they imply that, in many African-American homes, the children are educated about the significance of race in society and how they can counter racial stereotyping. However, this is different in the homes of whites. In the many homes by white parents, they do not educate the children on the significance of race with the fear that the children may develop various characteristics. For this reason, an information gap is created, which results in the absorption of bias and may later result in a conception of false information delivered by the media about race (Durrheim, Hook, and Riggs). By offering such a solution, the opponents of this solution believe that this solution is wrong and biased. They imply that the most appropriate solution to racial stereotyping should include the children since racism begins from childhood. However, this argument by the opponents could be of some value and valid. In as much as they outline that people should be educated and parents should be the major players, this offers a significant solution, an argument I concur with.

Conclusion

It is essential to acknowledge the fact that racism and stereotyping are retrogressive in contemporary society. They have more negative implications as opposed to positive ones. The remaining stereotypes should be uprooted from societies for people to thrive in their respective communities, races, and cultures. Having explored the types and forms of stereotypes, it is in confidence that stereotypes develop due to the nature of categorization and ignorance of the available facts towards a particular group. With the proposed solution, it provides a significant basis for solving the issue of racial stereotypes. However, various arguments provided by the opponents of the solution are valid as well since they offer a vital solution to the problem. Implicit prejudices ad stereotypes will reduce since people will be more ethical, open-minded, accommodating, and educated on racial stereotypes and how to combat cases of discrimination.

Works Cited

Durrheim, K., D. Hook, and D. Riggs. "Race and racism." Critical psychology: An introduction 2 (2009).

Fiske, Susan T. "Prejudices in cultural contexts: Shared stereotypes (gender, age) versus variable stereotypes (race, ethnicity, religion)." Perspectives on psychological science 12.5 (2017): 791-799.

Forrest, James, Garth Lean, and Kevin Dunn. "Challenging racism through schools: teacher attitudes to cultural diversity and multicultural education in Sydney, Australia." Race, Ethnicity, and Education 19.3 (2016): 618-638.

Nairn, Raymond, et al. "Media, racism and public health psychology." Journal of Health Psychology 11.2 (2006): 183-196.

Nasir, Na'ilah Suad, et al. "Knowing about racial stereotypes versus believing them." Urban education 52.4 (2017): 491-524.

Plant, E. Ashby, and Patricia G. Devine. "Internal and external motivation to respond without prejudice." Journal of personality and social psychology 75.3 (1998): 811.

Ylanne-McEwen, Virpi, and Nikolas Coupland. "Accommodation Theory: A Conceptual Resource for." Culturally speaking: Managing rapport through talk across cultures (2004): 191.

References

FAQ 1: What is the main problem discussed in the essay?

Answer: The main problem discussed in the essay is racial stereotyping, which remains a common issue in communities worldwide, leading to negative implications and discrimination across different cultures and races.

FAQ 2: What is the proposed solution to combat racial stereotyping?

Answer: The proposed solution to combat racial stereotyping involves a three-step approach known as Education, Accommodation, and Motivation (EAM). Education aims to increase awareness about racial differences and distinguish between facts and myths. Accommodation involves establishing equal-status relationships between people from different racial groups. Motivation seeks to foster positive racial interactions and overcome implicit racial biases through various techniques like individuating, stereotype replacement, contact, perspective-taking, and counter-stereotypic imaging.

FAQ 3: How does the media contribute to racial stereotyping?

Answer: The media plays a significant role in perpetuating racial stereotyping by providing conflicting or inaccurate information about certain races. Consumers of media may unknowingly internalize and reinforce these false perceptions, making the issue of racial stereotyping more sensitive in society.