The beauty of America being a 'melting pot' is that we get to experience so many different cultures on a daily basis. Our workplaces and classrooms are so diverse and unique allowing us to familiarize ourselves with every race, color, gender, religion, etc. every day. That being said, it blows my mind why our society has all these stereotypes that make us sound so ignorant and can easily be debunked if we just took a minute to get to know our peers. We have a habit of making assumptions about an entire group of people based on the actions of a select few.
The one that affects me the most and hits really close to home is that "all Jews are cheap and snobby rich people." There are so many jokes made about this stereotype that are tossed around not meant to offend anyone, but I always find myself being hurt by this assumption. The last time I checked, being wise about money and knowing how to manage it properly does not make you a 'cheap' person. Just because someone is wealthy and successful and they happen to be Jewish should never allow anyone to consider them to be snobby and cheap. Jewish people are the most charitable and generous people I know. Not all Jewish people are rich either, we all work to make a living just like everyone else. Since when is it okay to make a joke about someone being hard-working and wanting to support their family?
The media emphasizes stereotypes that are truly ridiculous and has made people back them up. Some common ones are actually pretty humorous because of how ignorant they are: "all blondes are dumb bimbos," "all gay men are feminine," "all Asians are nerdy geniuses," "all Middle Easterners are terrorists," "All Hispanics are illegal immigrants," the list goes on and on. We have become so accustomed to these presumptions because we see them portrayed in all of our favorite movies and T.V shows every day. Black people are always being portrayed as criminals, women as inferior to the strong male stereotype, and they rarely portray an individual in minority having the powerful lead role. Reality T.V shows wealthy people a being crazy party-goers who didn’t work hard for their money, leading viewers to believe that that’s the case for every successful person. It effects kids as well who get bullied for anyway they identify themselves.
If you actually research statistics that debunk stereotypes, they prove that all society’s beliefs are way off. For example, 89 percent of Muslim Americans said that they never justify targeting a group of people. There is a common stereotype about Mexicans being lazy, but Mexico tops the OECD reports for working the longest days.
Everyone holds stereotypical beliefs, whether they admit it or not. Get out of your house, travel to a new place, experience new cultures, get to know more people and you will realize how insane some of your assumptions are.
