These two readings made me think
about the time when I was in kindergarten and thinking that I was the same as
the blonde and brown-haired actresses and models on television. Sure, we had
different hair colors, but we were still people who had a head, two arms, two
feet and stood upright. It wasn’t until a couple years later when I realized
noticing that there were no Asians on television. When an Asian would show up,
I would be amazed. I still get a little amazed now, but not a lot. I think that
this experience and observation support the two readings. Whites dominated the
media and with so many audiences, the media had control over racism in terms of
influencing people to think the same distinctions that the Whites in charge of
the media made. For me, this was an interesting to read, perhaps because
naively I always thought everyone was the same.
However, one concept that
bothered me at first was questioning how stereotyping could be eliminated when
people claim to have their own identities in the world. For example, countries
populate the world. People identify themselves according to which country their
from or are loyal to. People who agree with each other in terms of philosophy,
life style, etc. are similar in those aspects. Then, there can be another set
of people who believe in something else and so forth. With so many different
groups, isn’t it obvious that stereotyping would occur? Group A would see that
there is a difference in thinking compared to Group B and so forth. So, how is
it possible to even eliminate stereotyping?
I tried to explain my thoughts to
a fellow teacher education colleague and what she told me more optimistic about
the issue. She said that the goal that we’re trying to teach students about
stereotyping is to not judge a person on what he/she can or cannot do based on
appearance. Her explanation made sense to me, reminding me what my former
teachers have taught me. I had forgotten about the common phrase “Don’t judge a
book by its cover.” I was so caught up with the idea of different groups. For
example, when it comes to medical issues, which racial group is more likely to
be prone to a disease or live longer, etc? But, after thinking about it for a
while, I came to two conclusions: 1) Genetics make us all into different human
beings with some similar attributes. Thus, it isn’t stereotyping if you are
told to get a certain test simply because others who have similar genetics
needed to. It is the generalization of similar genes that produce medical
findings; however, 2) it is stereotyping if someone were to tell you that you
couldn’t do something because of a possible disadvantage due to a particular
genetic make up in comparison to other similar ones. While you may share the
same attributes as someone who is sick, you may not get sick yourself simply
because you have other genes that make you different. (Hopefully, this makes
sense.)
Thus, coming back to
stereotyping, I’ve concluded that there will always be distinctions among
people. Keeping an open mind to learning who other people are and not
prejudging who they are and what they can/cannot do is crucial to not only
teach students but for teachers and parents to practice as well. If we,
teachers, cannot be open minded and not judge people upon meeting them for the
first time or seeing others, then we cannot successfully teach this crucial lesson
to students. They need role models to show them what is right and the most
rewarding view on life. Teachers need to be mindful with their students as
well, to not judge their strengths or weaknesses based on outward appearances.
We need to truly understand our students in order to help them use their own
strengths to become successful in life.
