Judgement of Culture
Kiki Davidson
1/31/13
Judgment of Culture: What is a stereotype? A stereotype is a public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual, usually about how they act in their culture. Stereotypes are often confused with prejudices, since both are based on a prior assumption, and you know what they say about when you assume. Although some of these assumptions may apply to some people in a culture, it will never apply to all, making the statements untrue. Some of these you may have heard, like all Irish people are drunks and fighters and eat potatoes? The Italians are considered to be “gangsters”, loud and talk with their hands. The newest one is that all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. Some ethnic stereotypes have been around since before America was settled, but all these cultures have one thing in common, they are all being judged.
The Irish who came over to settle in the Americas were very similar to that of the enslaved Africans. After being forced to leave their own country due to the potato famine that created starvation conditions, and British oppression, millions fled to America. Since the British owned the Irish, as they settled they were known as “The White Negros.” Upon their arrival they were regarded as happy, lazy, and stupid, with a gift for music and dance. The term the “paddy wagon” was used to refer to the name Patrick and the wagon that carted them off to jail, since they were also referred to as criminals. The biggest misconception is that all Irish are drunks. Yes, some Irish folks like to drink, but not all Irish people and other ethnic backgrounds like to drink too. People see one person of a particular culture do something un-normal to someone outside that culture, and automatically everyone of that culture falls into that category standard.
The Italians were considered to be tolerant of violence and political corruption because of their former alliance with Nazi Germany and criminal group such as the Mafia. They were
1/31/13
Judgment of Culture: What is a stereotype? A stereotype is a public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual, usually about how they act in their culture. Stereotypes are often confused with prejudices, since both are based on a prior assumption, and you know what they say about when you assume. Although some of these assumptions may apply to some people in a culture, it will never apply to all, making the statements untrue. Some of these you may have heard, like all Irish people are drunks and fighters and eat potatoes? The Italians are considered to be “gangsters”, loud and talk with their hands. The newest one is that all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. Some ethnic stereotypes have been around since before America was settled, but all these cultures have one thing in common, they are all being judged.
The Irish who came over to settle in the Americas were very similar to that of the enslaved Africans. After being forced to leave their own country due to the potato famine that created starvation conditions, and British oppression, millions fled to America. Since the British owned the Irish, as they settled they were known as “The White Negros.” Upon their arrival they were regarded as happy, lazy, and stupid, with a gift for music and dance. The term the “paddy wagon” was used to refer to the name Patrick and the wagon that carted them off to jail, since they were also referred to as criminals. The biggest misconception is that all Irish are drunks. Yes, some Irish folks like to drink, but not all Irish people and other ethnic backgrounds like to drink too. People see one person of a particular culture do something un-normal to someone outside that culture, and automatically everyone of that culture falls into that category standard.
The Italians were considered to be tolerant of violence and political corruption because of their former alliance with Nazi Germany and criminal group such as the Mafia. They were