JAM843
Apr 30, 2010
Writing Feedback / Stereotype essay (races); Imagine having no friends in school just because of your skin color [6]
Imagine having no friends in school just because of your skin color, and others think you are stuck-up because of that. Prejudice exists everywhere; with prejudice comes a stereotype. Most stereotypes are dealt more with minorities, especially in the United States. There are many stereotypes dealing with the white community, one being that white people are stuck-up. We can go further into depth into this stereotype by arguing how people were raise in the white community, informing the culture's hints (of white people being "stuck-up"), and stating all of the people who agree with this stereotype and why.
Basically, It all depends on how a person was raised. Most of America assumes that every white person grew up either in suburbia, or a well-to-do apartment in the city. While sometimes this is true, most of America is suburban but not everyone grew up that lucky. Some lived in the bad areas of town, some lived in farming towns, and many other diverse places. Where you raise your family depends on the income and the family's situation most of the time. If the parents have a middle-class income, then suburbia is the most likely option. If they have a higher income than your average American, they probably live in the most high-class place money can buy. But if you exist in the lower class, your income is not so great. Then they would probably live in a poorly developed neighborhood, like a trailer park or apartment complex. In my personal experience I can agree with this. I grew up in a military household, two brothers and two sisters. We moved every other year, to many different places. Sometimes it was different countries. I like to think that I'm a worldly kind of person. My parents did not grow up prejudice and they taught me to be open-minded, no matter what the situation was. For ten years we lived in South Carolina, where most people believe it is just filled with a lot of rednecks. I grew up on Charleston Air Force Base. I went to many different schools; two elementary schools, home school, a catholic school, a charter school, a baptist school, a military school, and two other high schools. My freshmen year I enrolled in the military school where most of the children are black. I was the only white girl in my grade, which to some people that would seem very scary. It was not the most horrible experience, but it was not the best. I got made fun of a lot, and became an outcast due to the fact that the other children were raised to believe all white people are bad. I made an effort to make friends, but most of the people would not give me the time of day. Sometimes, I believed their parents raised them up prejudice. I got called stuck-up a lot, which I really was not. I made an effort to befriend many of the other students, but that just did not happen. They did not want a rude white girl around. Because of the stereotype that white people are stuck-up my experience was unpleasant freshmen year. I did not give the vibe that I was stuck-up, at least that is what I believed. Then I went North Charleston High. The ratio of blacks to white was something like seven to one, and I did make a lot of different friends there. I did not talk to most of the other white people because they really were prejudice against minorities. It was not until I moved to Illinois did I realize what I went through. I have never seen this many white people in schools before. It was definitely a change from the diversity I grew up with down south. I grew up open-minded, and I always will be. My experiences only helped me.
Conversely, other races describe the give-aways in simple terms. There exists many hints to give the stuck-up vibe. One hint is what they wear. That material aspect does tell a lot about a person, in which they could be stuck-up because they can afford nicer clothes and spend all their money on that "necessity". What they drive shows the material aspect again. No one will think a person is high class if they are driving around in a "junker". The workforce is full of every person you can think of, everyone has to get a job. It is believed that white people work in manager positions (or leadership appropriate positions), jobs in which they order all of the staff around, or have enough income to just hire help whenever they need it. Their friends are most likely in the same age group, same class, same race, and probably the same life situation the white person is in. They'll choose plain, white friends, not being very diverse. They (white people) can eat out at restaurants every night. So you will most likely see them at places like McDonalds all the way through fancy, stuck-up eateries. The thought is that they have all the money they need, so they can blow it at dinners out every night. Some people even eat out every meal, but usually that is because they can not cook or they are extremely lazy. One example for school for the white community is usually in love with the idea of the Ivy League, and only the Ivy League. But not everyone is that intelligent. According to Christen Lander of the "stuff white people like" blog, "White people like to believe that they were not born into a privileged (enough) family to get legacy admission (Stuff White people Like). Those examples though don't give the persona of stuck-up, white people that well. Sure, to the people who apply to that, but everyone cannot afford to do these things. That applies especially to people who are in debt. According to Consumer Debt Statistics, "This data tells us that Americans carried approximately eight hundred and eighty six billion in credit card debt and that number is expected to grow to a projected one thousand one hundred and seventy seven billion by the year two thousand ten. This works out to over five thousand one hundred dollars in credit card debt per cardholder (not household) and that number is expected to increase to over six thousand five hundred by two thousand ten"("Consumer Debt Statistics"). They think they that money is disposable, debt would not apply to them. No matter how far they go into debt, they have to keep up the image they want perceived. The things they buy all deal with the aspect of materialism. It is not until later that they learn that things do not make a person happy. It's the idea other people have the idea that a white person has all these things that they won't deal with other people of the lesser stature. They are not better than you, we are all the same.
To state again, many different races and cultures believe in this stereotype. Many of the races not showing understatement and believing in equality, so they believe in fear. A lot of them being predictable in the way a racist is, a little bit or a lot. Many of them having the belief that "the white man is keeping them down". Whether it was from a big-time white politician declaring immigration as wrong, a white cop pulling over a person who is "driving while black", or white neighbor who gives dirty looks every time the neighbor passes by in a car. That can be explained because those people have had bad experiences with a particular white person. Usually that white has some form of high power in society. From that one white, a whole community discriminates anyone with similar skin-tone. They assume that all white people are like that. That's the idea and not a lot can change their perception.
All-in all, assuming someone is stuck-up because of their skin color is just wrong. All races assume that, one race is a certain way and another is a different way. By going into depth into the stereotype and discussing how that compared with the way people were raise in the white community, informing all of the culture's hints, and stating all of the races who agree with this stereotype and telling their reasons. One place I learned from experience like mentioned before was the military magnet school. Truthfully it all depends on experiences; and how that person was raised. Automatically a single person has the true choice whether or not they want to be prejudice or not; or even believe stereotypes. People should not just automatically assume someone is stuck-up just because of their skin color. People should understand that prejudice is fear of what you don't know, what you don't understand. The world should be more understanding.
I've already covered the MLA necessities, just need a second opinion
Imagine having no friends in school just because of your skin color, and others think you are stuck-up because of that. Prejudice exists everywhere; with prejudice comes a stereotype. Most stereotypes are dealt more with minorities, especially in the United States. There are many stereotypes dealing with the white community, one being that white people are stuck-up. We can go further into depth into this stereotype by arguing how people were raise in the white community, informing the culture's hints (of white people being "stuck-up"), and stating all of the people who agree with this stereotype and why.
Basically, It all depends on how a person was raised. Most of America assumes that every white person grew up either in suburbia, or a well-to-do apartment in the city. While sometimes this is true, most of America is suburban but not everyone grew up that lucky. Some lived in the bad areas of town, some lived in farming towns, and many other diverse places. Where you raise your family depends on the income and the family's situation most of the time. If the parents have a middle-class income, then suburbia is the most likely option. If they have a higher income than your average American, they probably live in the most high-class place money can buy. But if you exist in the lower class, your income is not so great. Then they would probably live in a poorly developed neighborhood, like a trailer park or apartment complex. In my personal experience I can agree with this. I grew up in a military household, two brothers and two sisters. We moved every other year, to many different places. Sometimes it was different countries. I like to think that I'm a worldly kind of person. My parents did not grow up prejudice and they taught me to be open-minded, no matter what the situation was. For ten years we lived in South Carolina, where most people believe it is just filled with a lot of rednecks. I grew up on Charleston Air Force Base. I went to many different schools; two elementary schools, home school, a catholic school, a charter school, a baptist school, a military school, and two other high schools. My freshmen year I enrolled in the military school where most of the children are black. I was the only white girl in my grade, which to some people that would seem very scary. It was not the most horrible experience, but it was not the best. I got made fun of a lot, and became an outcast due to the fact that the other children were raised to believe all white people are bad. I made an effort to make friends, but most of the people would not give me the time of day. Sometimes, I believed their parents raised them up prejudice. I got called stuck-up a lot, which I really was not. I made an effort to befriend many of the other students, but that just did not happen. They did not want a rude white girl around. Because of the stereotype that white people are stuck-up my experience was unpleasant freshmen year. I did not give the vibe that I was stuck-up, at least that is what I believed. Then I went North Charleston High. The ratio of blacks to white was something like seven to one, and I did make a lot of different friends there. I did not talk to most of the other white people because they really were prejudice against minorities. It was not until I moved to Illinois did I realize what I went through. I have never seen this many white people in schools before. It was definitely a change from the diversity I grew up with down south. I grew up open-minded, and I always will be. My experiences only helped me.
Conversely, other races describe the give-aways in simple terms. There exists many hints to give the stuck-up vibe. One hint is what they wear. That material aspect does tell a lot about a person, in which they could be stuck-up because they can afford nicer clothes and spend all their money on that "necessity". What they drive shows the material aspect again. No one will think a person is high class if they are driving around in a "junker". The workforce is full of every person you can think of, everyone has to get a job. It is believed that white people work in manager positions (or leadership appropriate positions), jobs in which they order all of the staff around, or have enough income to just hire help whenever they need it. Their friends are most likely in the same age group, same class, same race, and probably the same life situation the white person is in. They'll choose plain, white friends, not being very diverse. They (white people) can eat out at restaurants every night. So you will most likely see them at places like McDonalds all the way through fancy, stuck-up eateries. The thought is that they have all the money they need, so they can blow it at dinners out every night. Some people even eat out every meal, but usually that is because they can not cook or they are extremely lazy. One example for school for the white community is usually in love with the idea of the Ivy League, and only the Ivy League. But not everyone is that intelligent. According to Christen Lander of the "stuff white people like" blog, "White people like to believe that they were not born into a privileged (enough) family to get legacy admission (Stuff White people Like). Those examples though don't give the persona of stuck-up, white people that well. Sure, to the people who apply to that, but everyone cannot afford to do these things. That applies especially to people who are in debt. According to Consumer Debt Statistics, "This data tells us that Americans carried approximately eight hundred and eighty six billion in credit card debt and that number is expected to grow to a projected one thousand one hundred and seventy seven billion by the year two thousand ten. This works out to over five thousand one hundred dollars in credit card debt per cardholder (not household) and that number is expected to increase to over six thousand five hundred by two thousand ten"("Consumer Debt Statistics"). They think they that money is disposable, debt would not apply to them. No matter how far they go into debt, they have to keep up the image they want perceived. The things they buy all deal with the aspect of materialism. It is not until later that they learn that things do not make a person happy. It's the idea other people have the idea that a white person has all these things that they won't deal with other people of the lesser stature. They are not better than you, we are all the same.
To state again, many different races and cultures believe in this stereotype. Many of the races not showing understatement and believing in equality, so they believe in fear. A lot of them being predictable in the way a racist is, a little bit or a lot. Many of them having the belief that "the white man is keeping them down". Whether it was from a big-time white politician declaring immigration as wrong, a white cop pulling over a person who is "driving while black", or white neighbor who gives dirty looks every time the neighbor passes by in a car. That can be explained because those people have had bad experiences with a particular white person. Usually that white has some form of high power in society. From that one white, a whole community discriminates anyone with similar skin-tone. They assume that all white people are like that. That's the idea and not a lot can change their perception.
All-in all, assuming someone is stuck-up because of their skin color is just wrong. All races assume that, one race is a certain way and another is a different way. By going into depth into the stereotype and discussing how that compared with the way people were raise in the white community, informing all of the culture's hints, and stating all of the races who agree with this stereotype and telling their reasons. One place I learned from experience like mentioned before was the military magnet school. Truthfully it all depends on experiences; and how that person was raised. Automatically a single person has the true choice whether or not they want to be prejudice or not; or even believe stereotypes. People should not just automatically assume someone is stuck-up just because of their skin color. People should understand that prejudice is fear of what you don't know, what you don't understand. The world should be more understanding.
I've already covered the MLA necessities, just need a second opinion