I could never understand racism. Growing up, the thought of discriminating against someone based on the color of their skin made no sense to me. I couldn’t fathom the logic behind it.
I didn’t understand racism and therefore I didn’t think that I could ever be racist. Racism, to me, was a terrible thing that existed in the 1960s, but now only occurred in “crazy southern” areas. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more aware, less naive, and have realized that racism is still an issue that exists widely in society. I realized that racism isn’t simply about the difference between the color of people’s skin, rather, it is associated with the stereotypes behind those skin colors.
We are all guilty of inherently labeling and stereotyping other people. Whether it’s assuming the girl showing too much cleavage is a “slut” or the man wearing dirty clothes is “homeless,” we all do it. That doesn’t make labeling others any less wrong, however, it’s a fact that many of us label others without even thinking about it.
I never thought I could ever be racist until I realized that I am guilty of inherently labeling other people. I have caught myself subconsciously associating those labels or stereotypes with a certain race. I may not be blatantly racist or be aware of my racism, however, I still have thought racist thoughts based on the stereotypes in my head.
Here’s an example in which I will stereotype myself: I’ve gone to Starbucks before wearing yoga pants, a Northface-type jacket, and Ugg boots. I’m sure someone in that Starbucks may have labeled me as a “Basic White Girl.” Yet, what other negative stereotypes do people associate with the “Basic White Girl”? That I’m spoiled, stuck up, and wealthy? Or that I am unoriginal, unintelligent, and shallow? I’d like to think that most of those stereotypes about me are not true, yet I’m sure they have been placed on me before.
That example may seem a little petty in comparison to what many other people experience due to stereotyping. Although I may not want to be associated with those labels, the only real consequence that comes with them is a bad reputation. What about stereotypes that have more serious repercussions? Couldn’t a thought or a label about a certain race soon easily turn into a deep-seated bitterness toward that race?
In one of my English classes this semester, we are working as mentors once a week with ninth grade students at a local high school. During our first visit last week, our students were asked to share instances in which they have been labeled or seen someone else labeled before. One black student shared that once a store owner followed him around when he was at an inconvenience store. When asked why the student thought he was being followed he said, “Because I’m black and he thought black people steal things.” Besides the fact that this student was a 14-year-old child who should never have to experience inequality like that, this example shows how inherent labeling can lead to discrimination based on race. Here racism wasn’t simply about the color of his skin, rather, it was about the stereotypes the store owner associated with his skin color. The stereotype that "black people steal things" lead this man to actively follow around a child while he walked around in a store. It was blatantly wrong and unfair, yet it proves my point.
I am not going to pretend like I have an easy solution to this problem to conclude my thoughts in a nice way. I know racism is a worldwide issue that is out of my power to solve. Instead, I want to emphasize that although inherently labeling other people is something we all do, it is unacceptable. We need to be wary of how we label other people, because we have no right to. We also need to monitor how we allow labels to skew our perceptions of other people, based on race, gender, or whatever else may cause us to place a mislead stereotype onto another person. Stereotyping is wrong, and often untrue. We cannot allow it to determine our view of another race because like I said before, the only real difference is the color of our skin.
