Feature photo: It was August 10 2003, the day an enormous blackout darkened the entire eastern United States and parts of Canada. People worried that another terrorist attack was upon us. People worried there would be riots and looting. One person I know sat on his front porch, deep in Long Island, sat there all night long with his shot gun.
“Why?” you may ask. Because he was worried “the black people” would come. Of course, the fact he lives in an extremely white and rather isolated part of Long Island didn’t seem to ease his fears. In order for those black people to come, they would need to hop in their cars – train wasn’t an option, remember, because of the blackout – and drive all the way over to Long Island in the pitch dark just to steal his stuff.
Really, what are the chances?
The reality of that night?
I’ve never seen people so decent to each other. The neighborhood kids, usually quite hooliganish, carried flashlights to help people to their homes. Grocery stores and bodegas gave away free food, because it would go bad left unrefrigerated anyway. Never before and never again in ten years did I see Cobble Hill as such a community.
Fear jails you. We sat on our stoops chatting. He sat there wide eyed and fearful for one long wakeful night.
We’ve even adopted a phrase–the title of this article–in his honor. It refers to any time someone assumes the worst about another person because of prejudice.
Almost seven years later, my family and I still laugh at this guy. We’ve even adopted a phrase — the title of this article — in his honor. It refers to any time someone assumes the worst about another person because of prejudice. It means shortsighted, irrational fear of something unknown.
The Other Side of Irrational
Then there’s Emma. She’s a housekeeper in NYC. I met her in the laundry room of our building where we’d exchange pleasant smiles and hello. We couldn’t speak because she doesn’t know English, and at the time, I didn’t speak Spanish.
Skip forward five years. Emma started babysitting for Lila, and I learned a little more about her.
Emma is Bolivian.
She used to be a nun.
She worked in an orphanage.
She left because as a nun she wasn’t able to adopt the children.
She adopted two.
Emma is one of the most wonderful, honest decent people I have met in my life. She works hard, and nothing is too difficult, too complicated or too much for her. I trust her with my daughter, which is the highest praise I can give anyone.
When I think of what a Bolivian is like, I think of Emma.
-Photo by antisocialtory
Of course, living here in Argentina on the edge of Bolivia, people have a slightly different story.
When I visit public offices here in Argentina – immigration for renewing our visa or registro civil for residency here – I’m treated differently than many of the people waiting — almost all Bolivians — in the office. We are warned to watch out because, you know, all those stories of Bolivians kidnapping young children at the mall for ransom. We’re told we need shots for Hepatitis A and other diseases because, well, they come from Bolivia. Bolivians don’t work hard. They steal.
Sitting on the front porch making saints.
The reality is my view of Bolivians is as much a stereotype as the other. It may be easier to stomach, because I ascribe positive attributes, but it is still a stereotype based on one wonderful woman. I doubt there are many like her in the world, let alone an entire country of Emmas. It’s the flip side of sitting on your porch. I call it saint making. Same thing as a bad movie where out of nowhere, the wise man or woman – usually Native American, Voodoo priestess, African shaman – appears with inchoate words of advice that lead the main character from darkness to light.
Both blind us badly.
Two recent articles on Matador raise similar issues.
The first, Fear Among Men:Notes On Traveling With A Girlfriend, frustrated and angered people in its portrayal of women as helpless travelers in need of care. On the other side, many found a main character, called The Israeli, objectionable.
A second article, Barakku: Black Culture in Japan, explores one man’s questions about race, culture and whether or not he’s comfortable being accepted by virtue of the color of his skin.
What can we understand about our own prejudice?
COMMUNITY CONNECTION:
Is it our duty to eradicate stereotypes, see the world more evenhandedly or can prejudice sometimes serve a useful purpose?
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26 Comments... join the discussion!
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I appreciate the intent of this article, but making gross generalizations about any group of people is no less a moral error than a statistical error. While a certain degree of stereotyping is common—as humans tend to compartmentalize their thinking for the sake of faster processing—to project the attributes of one individual, such as Emma, onto an entire culture of people is just inaccurate, regardless of how ‘positive’ you wish to be. Although we tend to think people of our own culture are more ‘diverse’ than people of other cultures, in truth there exist personalities of varying stripes in every culture. Whether you see stereotyping as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ on a moral level is less important than the fact that making gross stereotypes about character traits is just statistically groundless.
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Hmmm. Not sure what to think about your point. Though I agree with it in the abstract, I think it is an important moral issue to avoid dehumanizing other groups of people by failing to recognize them individually as you might with people in your ‘own culture’.
Is statistical accuracy a more important truth than blindly refusing to see another person’s truth because the perceptions that make you comfortable might be threatened by it?
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I’m not sure if I’m misunderstanding your comment or if you didn’t read the article entirely.
I think I make it pretty clear that I am not endorsing any type of stereotype. Be it positive or negative when I say the following.
The reality is my view of Bolivians is as much a stereotype as the other. It may be easier to stomach, because I ascribe positive attributes, but it is still a stereotype based on one wonderful woman.
As for statistical analysis of a stereotype, when a person agrees at base that stereotypes are not a useful method of measurement. I’m not sure it matters whether the yardstick is by numbers, moral or even emotional.
This piece is intended to be a call to examine our views of the world, of people and cultures. I start by examining my own thinking, because that is what makes most sense to me.
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I think the point she is making is one that many people in majority groups like to make and that is that the statistical error is the error that counts and that by making the argument subjective (moral) we lose sight of the truth and the discussion.
I read the comment the way you did the first time, but though I agree that statistics are important, I disagree that they are more important. There are more Black men in prison statistically in the US than other groups. Does this only say something about Black men? Or does is say something also about history, the justice system and inequality? Are these moral issues? Yes. To take the moral component out of them shuts down the discussion. It silences the voices of those who feel that they are not heard by the majority.
And how do we statistically measure “the goodness” of a person? By statistics that illustrate things we deem morally to be good or bad.
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Truth is, Lauren assumes that I am making a moral judgment, but really she is the one bringing that issue into the discussion. If anything, I would attribute stereotyping to emotional judgment. Fear. Confusion. Anger. (And yes, I am aware that is a simplified version of things)
I posit that stereotypes are misleading whether positive or negative. In that sense, it doesn’t really matter where they come from. Statistics can be used to either support an initial stereotype or not and are notoriously misleading.
Check out the statistics on this fact sheet from the NAACP: 12 percent of monthly drug users are African American. Compared with 32% of arrests for drug possession.
That tells me very clearly that there is a bias in arrests. Another might see that as there are more African Americans selling (but they’re not using so they wouldn’t be included in the first statistic.)
That’s why I purposely focus on the individual who cannot be defined by statistics. At least that seems to be the only thing that we all seem to agree on 100%.
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Great thoughts, great wrap-up, Leigh.
In Copacabana, Bolivia, people blame crime on the Peruvians. In Puno, Peru, they blame it on the Bolivians. What unites the fear everywhere is it’s always about “the other.”
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Thanks, Hall. And you are so right.
I don’t think I’ve ever visited anywhere that doesn’t blame whatever problems in the country on a group of people from outside the country, usually a bordering country too.
I’ll add another why to Kate’s. Why does this happen? Fear? A way of avoiding personal responsibility?
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The funny thing about prejudice is that so few people challenge themselves about it. It becomes their truth. No matter how much evidence there is to the contrary, prejudiced views still hold up. Why?
That man on the porch with the shotgun probably didn’t learn anything about his own prejudice that night. Given a similar circumstance, it’s likely that he’d behave the same way again.
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I hadn’t thought about that, Kate, but I’m sure you’re right.
I’ll hazard a guess as to why. Because that sort of fearful thinking has nothing to do with the “other” and everything to do with the self. It’s much easier to find fault elsewhere and so difficult to blame ourselves.
But that is a very, very broad understanding, and I’m sure does nothing for the nuances.
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Love this, Leigh! And I couldn’t agree more with your points. I think as human beings it’s difficult not to fall into the trap of organizing our world into categories because it makes things easier to understand. Obviously, negative stereotyping is harmful but it’s easier to pinpoint. I remember being with my Mexican father one time when a co-worker told him he loved the Mexican people because they were such noble, simple people. I guess he meant it as a compliment, but at the time it was so deeply offensive to me and I didn’t know how to articulate why. Even now, I’m sure a lot of people wouldn’t understand. But having been through those experiences of pigeon-holing myself, I try to challenge myself not to fall into easy assumptions when I’m traveling.
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Gabriela,
Since reading your comment yesterday, I’ve been trying to pinpoint exactly why it’s so uncomfortable and offensive when people say things like what was said to your dad.
I still can’t quite figure it out, but it has something to do with infantalizing another group of people. People rarely call you noble when they think of you as an equal. (Simple, it’s easy to see what that would be offensive. Whattaya mean simple?).
Makes me think of what someone said about poet Phillis Wheatley, an African woman brought from Senegal to the US as a slave. I paraphrase, but basically. It’s like a dog walking on hind legs. The quality of the work doesn’t matter. That it’s done at all is what is amazing.
Thanks, buddy. Thanks for the compliment.
At the same time, I know so many who are more than comfortable making jokes around stereotyping when they’re part of the group in question. I cannot tell you how many other Jewish people I know regularly use the verb “to jew” when talking about money. When you’re part of the group, it becomes something like an inside joke.
I wish I had a way to round this all out, but I’m finding as I think of this issue, I find more exceptions, more ways different groups express themselves.From statistics to moral judgment to individual perception to who knows how many other variables, the topic seems to spread out.
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Nice points, Leigh. I also think that generalizing in that way (though ’simple’ is pretty damn insulting) denies people diversity within their own groups in a way. It’s a signal that you see an ethnic group as a wall of homogeny and that is pretty damn insulting no matter what sort of generalization is being made.
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Yeah, it’s pretty difficult to get around calling anyone simple.
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Interesting article, and interesting comments too. I particularly like the part about the native-voodoo-shaman character saving the day with mysterious mumbo-jumbo. It’s almost like a colonialist outlook.
But you know what this article made me think of more than anything? Bill Hicks. (But then again, I am obsessed with him!) He used to end a number of his shows by talking about the constant battle in the world between fear and love; how each viewpoint dictated how you behaved in the world; and how each viewpoint is a choice.
He also did a brilliant riff on a supposed UFO landing in Texas (I think), where the local rednecks went to meet the spacecraft armed with their shotguns! On the front porch with a gun… but this time it’s the little green people coming!
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Nick, you crack me up. Which i think is well needed in any discussion of race, stereotyping and prejudice. It can get so damn serious, and ultimately, that level of seriousness makes it really difficult for people to hear.
Not all of us want to spend all our time in deep self reflection.
On that note, don’t know if you’ve seen this video of Bill HIcks reporting from outside the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, prior to the assault on the compound.
Talk about treating a serious subject respectfully (sort of) yet with humor.
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Wow Leigh, what food for thought. Thank you.
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That’s a really interesting point about the positive stereotypes, and I’m sure it’s something we’ve done before and not realized. Funny enough an article about the 2010 Olypmics got me thinking about this. There’s been critiques about the games, but the one that frustrated me the most was that some journalists (not all) had this idea before coming that all Canadians would be really quiet and timid in their patriotism and cheering for our athletes. Often, but not always, there’s this stereotype that all Canadians are polite, quiet, and nice. It certainly isn’t the worst stereotype to have and it’s true we are pretty friendly, but that statement I’m sure could be applied to people in any other country. Canada is a diverse nation and to say every person is this way all the time is just a gross generalization. No country can completely live up to that and as soon as someone faults everyone gets blamed. So I think there’s that aspect too to the positive stereotype. The idea that some culture, country, person, etc is glorified to the point that it can’t really live up to what’s expected.
Travelling I think is definitely a way to combat stereotypes and discrimination (provided you don’t let bad experiences with people cloud rational thinking). But I also believe another powerful tool is discussion (which you’ve provided thanks to your article) and education. I took a basic college social psych course a few years back and it was interesting to learn some of the reasons why people tend to think and act the way they do. I think there’s definitely merit to the social identity theory – where people categorize others as being like them in the in-group or the different or out-group. We tend to favour those in the in-group (because they’re like us) than the out-group. And there’s also the idea of out-group homogeneity, where we see the people in our in-group as diverse and different, but the people in the out-group are all the same. That’s something I can say I experienced in my own country. I blogged about my trip to Toronto recently and I noted that a lot of people didn’t understand why I wanted to go. There’s a western Canadian attitude that some people have about Toronto (don’t want to generalize everyone), that everyone there is stuck up and thinks they’re much better than the rest of Canada. But my trip was great, I didn’t get a snobbish vibe and the people I met in Toronto were very nice. Of course it’s all subjective. But yes education has helped me understand some of the reasons why people tend to act the way they do. It doesn’t make something like discrimination right by any means, but it certainly gives you a better tool to try to handle it or fix it.
Oh my I’ve rambled quite a bit.
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I totally agree. Travel is the best antidote for prejudice. That is if you’re willing to really travel, not just pick up your life in one place and transplant it to another.
It’s really hard to make general statements about a group of people when you actually spend time with them, and the more you see different groups of people, the more you can’t escape the fact that while groups as a whole might have defining characteristics, those characteristics do not necessarily identify the individual.
That and when you’ve actually visited a country, you in some small way become part of that group. When I meet Argentines or Panamanians anywhere else in the world, we immediately connect.
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Convenience seems to drive some stereotypes. It’s as if people need a certain role to be played – so they decide (consciously/ unconsciously?) someone’s got to adopt the character. Seems they also choose who.
Hence the “simple Mexican people” paired with the reaction that any “complicated” Mexicans encountered are either unfortunately westernized or wannabes.
Or the classic Aunt Jemima equation, (recently updated to kind of a discount Oprah) black + female + overweight = willing ear / homey wisdom on tap.
To see the surprised/ disappointed looks from Indian faces when I – a black female from the US – reply that I know next to nothing about rap; Or when my 6 foot x black manager confesses he doesn’t play basketball or football, looks like they’re thinking “Damn, mine’s broken.”
I guess people have a need to fill in the blank quick as possible rather than wait for more data to roll in.
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I’d not seen that video before, Leigh, thanks for sharing! I think what you say about how treating serious topics too seriously can turn people off the message is very true. That is one of the reasons I am in awe of Bill Hicks. He dealt with massive topics – really, if you think about it, almost all the biggies – with such cutting humour. Makes things so much easier to digest.
To come back on topic a bit more directly. As other people have pointed out, it’s human nature (presumably bound up in our evolution) to compartmentalize and judge. The trick is to realize we are doing it (whether in a positive or negative way), and try to adjust our world view accordingly. Since we should all in theory now be relatively evolved human beings (Bill Hicks again!), this shouldn’t be beyond us. Sadly, and of course I include myself here, it often is.
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Oops, sorry, that was meant to be a reply to Leigh! Me bad!
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Sometimes I think that true evolution takes us to a place where we no longer make those assumptions about people based on race or where they’re born. We’ll always connect with people on a level that makes it easier for us to define those around us, but it doesn’t necessarily mean something bad.
For example, having kids or not having kids. There’s a pretty big dividing line between those of us who are parents and those of you who are not. When we visited the San Blas Islands in Panama, Noah, Lila and I fit in far better with the Kuna Yala because we connected as parents than our little family fit in Bocas (lots of singles, lots of drinkers).
That said, you mentioned earlier that you liked the image I painted of the native-shaman-voodoo character. That is one that has always fascinated me. It sort of rolls the two forms of other stereotype into one package.
In college, I wrote a short story in which the main character ends up in the outskirts of Johannesburg and finds an old black man who helps him find answers. I chose that ending because I was running out of time to finish the assignment. It was a facile ending, one that no one bought, and one that I never forgot because it simply doesn’t reflect any real truth.
I do think stereotypes can reflect truth, but when we use them as the sole definition of a person or group of people, then we’re just projecting what feels easiest and running away from grappling with real thoughts, fears and realities.
Anyway, I’ll step down from my soapbox now.
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I agree that both positive and negative preconceptions and stereotypes can be blinding and even damaging. In Pakistan, people totally trusted white foreigners. I heard an anecdote once from a Lahori, “Who would a Punjabi man rather leave his wife with in a room, his brother, or an American?” The answer was American. Just this week Matador Abroad published an article of mine about being idealized for my whiteness in the Indian subcontinent. It’s essential that we as writers continue to bring up these issues.
http://matadorabroad.com/tales-from-the-frontier-of-expat-life-a-memsahib-in-pakistan/
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That is amazing. I’m curious to know what else is behind that saying.
As for idealized whiteness, I think that happens in the US a lot as well. The generations, though, of children growing up seeing only white dolls and white characters in cartoons is arguably fading, but it still very much exists.
When I think of the so-called multicultural children’s television shows, though, I find them rather facile and one-sided too.
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I REEEEALLY like this article. It gets me to do lots of thinking! Keep up the good work Leigh!
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