Stereotypes In A Prejudice Nation

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Williethia McLane Mrs. Caterina Orr English 1102 26 February 2009 “He probably works at the gas station.” “I think he is a doctor” “I can tell by what she has on she is stuck up.” These are common phrases we here from the people that walk amongst us in our country, the most diverse country in the world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau between March 1999 and 2000, 1.7 million people moved into the United States from abroad. Two-thirds of these movers were foreign-born and not U.S. citizens. Not only is North America the most diverse continent amongst the other six continents, but also California is one of the most diverse states along with Illinois, Texas, Georgia, and New York in the United States of America. A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and…show more content…
There have been many arguments as to is there a way that this can be stopped, but according to the book A Prejudice Nation by Thomas Newman we are A nation that has been derived from prejudices and it is now too late to stop it. It has now been programmed in the brain. Even those of us who try to refrain from prejudging people cannot because it is apart of who we are. An example of this is when the young cop picks up Larenz Tate off the side of the road he tries to keep an open – mind and remain optimistic about Larenz Tate, but as soon as he reaches into his coat the cop fires his weapon thinking that Larenz Tate is reaching for a weapon of his own. A survey conducted by the California Diversity Department at the University of California states 89% of people surveyed admitted to being prejudice. Everyone is prejudice. This is a true statement. The problem derives when we act on our prejudices. Since 1989 to 1999 the number of hate crimes increased drastically. The problem in our society does not come from us stereotyping or the prejudices that lead to our stereotypes, yet the actions we allow to be evoked from our
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