One of the most popular topics of this year seems to be racial tension. Living in Chicago -- which is known as the murder capital of the nation -- as a white, suburban 20-year-old makes you wonder what your place in this type of racially hostile environment would suggest. For most people it is easy to intermingle at supermarkets or the bus stop and put on a turning signal at the stop light; simple communication, not entirely involved. But no matter how cordial we may be, there are subtle clues all around us about our differences. The way that Hispanic vs. caucasian vs. African-American people interact with children, cashiers and baristas, all has a little bit of their history behind each word. But the best way to interact with people in general is to be kind and cordial; it's also the safest, we've concluded. This is an OK way to live, but as a nation recognized for being a melting pot we are known for expressing the importance of equality and opportunity. We all want a piece, and regardless of our racial background, freedom and prosperity is something that all of us can agree on. That being said, it is important to recognize a couple of things that I have personally discovered and think are important to address within different ethnic groups that is not recognized enough, and that is mainly that there is diversity in most groups.
It was recently brought to my attention that oftentimes in society, when you see any type of racially diverse group of people, they are grouped together as if each individual person in the group has the same interests. Music, dating, food, movies etc. For example, if you meet Muslim women and men, oftentimes people generalize basic parts of their cultural beliefs and associate that with what that person looks like or dresses like. The same goes for Asian, Hispanic, whatever it is; people of minorities oftentimes are represented as having few interests outside of their designated cultural and historical traditions. However, this is far from true. Oftentimes when watching movies about the general public it is easier to stick to stereotypes created or inflated by the media for entertainment; however, that does not help a country build more understanding of a culture that they are not familiar with. It is easier to have a mutual, fair and less-judgmental understanding of other cultures if they are represented in our media, which thousands of people are exposed to from an early age, in order to create less-stigmatized ideas of others based on their skin color, and different languages.
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In psychology, it is said that our brains have a natural way of processing information we see on a daily basis into categories of understanding in order to survive. If we can identify dangers quickly, we have a better chance of survival, which is really what we are trying to do. That being said, if the information coming to us from the media to the public is categorizing people of certain racial backgrounds, genders or cultural behaviors as "dangerous," we as people have a higher chance of perceiving them in real life as "threatening." However, how many times are we sizing up people incorrectly? Don't get me wrong, there are usually valuable clues about people that we can generate based on that information; however, it is important to recognize or be able to judge in a more efficient way if a person is truly going to put someone people at risk. Body language, for example, is a huge determinant of safety in a social situation. If more classes were taught in schools about the significance of body language, it might help people to classify people as threatening or non-threatening based on something universal such as body language; something more reliable than just skin tone, a hoodie or gender.
Of course, we cannot just rely on language alone, and should always be aware of our surroundings and not be ignorant of the stereotypes we've all learned growing up. However, being able to recognize those stereotypes placed on your ethnicity or culture may help us understand and tear down those expectations to coexist In a safe and coherent way with people of a different culture. This is why having diversity in films is one of the most important things for the entertainment industry to start developing because as young kids, people want to see representations of good father figures whatever their ethnic background; female workers, alternative music and good students of all different ages and backgrounds. A way for people to see themselves in society not as just a threatening human, but a person, and to build confidence from that representation that they could be anything they want to be. It is often said that if you can see it, you can achieve it, for a safer and more understanding, less-racially hostile environment. If we saw women and men wearing hijabs, and listening to punk, or young black men in hoodies going into public places going to get food, or just going to get groceries, we could show and understand that all people are not the worst of their stereotype.
The amount of times we see men being portrayed in films going to rob a bank or having intentions to hurt people are often wearing hoods to disguise their appearance, but if we focused more on the body language of an actual person and not simply what they are wearing to stay warm, or God forbid they could be tired, had a long day and just wanted to stay to themselves which is every person's right, we could live in a better, more-coherent and more-understanding environment. The bottom line is people are people and we all want to live in this world the best way we can, with culture, mental and physical safety and want to do what it takes to achieve that. If our society focused more on recognizing people as people, there would be a lot more understanding and still an acceptance and positive view on diversity to be seen for what it is and what America has tried to make it be.
