By Ale Ibarra Posted November 10, 2017
Why is it that despite all of the other problems in this country, we decide to focus on the most irrelevant of them all; the skin tones and ethnicities of those around us? When I say irrelevant, I mean that skin tone, race, religion, or ethnicity shouldn’t be a reason to discriminate. One look at a person shouldn’t automatically mean prejudice. That’s unreasonable. I understand that certain people have particular beliefs, however, that shouldn’t be an excuse for racism or any other bigotry.
We cannot treat everyone in the same way; every situation is unique. However, we need to treat every person individually, based on what we know from that person. That being said, treating people individually doesn’t mean that you have to be unfair and or have any preconceived feelings of negativity towards them. That’s where stereotypes come in.
There are stereotypes about someone’s religion and race. For Caucasians, some see white supremacy. For African Americans, they may be gang-related, and for Latinos/Hispanics; it may be dropouts. That race itself might not see it, but others on the outside, do.
For example, in a religious sense, Muslims are viewed as terrorists in part due to the 9/11 attack and ISIS. Stereotypes like these come about because of horrible truths. Sadly, sometimes those stereotypes are true. But to completely know how a person is and what their intentions are, you need to understand them and where they’re coming from. We cannot simply assume that a person is a certain way, just because of something we think we know or a superficial characteristic.
