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Against Stereotyping of Young African American Males



Stereotyping is a generalization about a person or group of people. Basically, it is a belief that everybody who is a member of a certain group has the same beliefs, characteristics, behaviors, and tastes. For example: “All tall black guys are basketball players”. Research supports my definition of stereotyping. James W. Rinehart defines stereotyping as “sets of beliefs, usually stated as categorical generalizations that people hold about the members of their own and other groups” (Rinehart 137). Stereotypes are developed because of ignorance and because some people know little about certain groups and rely on stereotypes instead of making fair judgments about people. Some think stereotyping African American males is just an acceptable part of society; however, examples and victims' perspective prove that it’s immoral.

For example, if you are walking through an unfamiliar area at night and see a group of old ladies walking up to you. Would you get scared? The answer is: probably not. Now, how about instead of a group of old ladies, it is a group of young African American males. Would you be afraid then? The answer most often than not is yes because society associates violence and crime with young African American males. So when one sees a group of African Americans males walking down the street at night, they just know that they will robbed or killed. Is this ethical? What about all the other stereotypes associated with African American males, are those ethical as well? Is that fair? How can one judge someone or a group of people that they don’t even know?

What are some stereotypes of African American males? Sadly, there are a lot of them. Some think that African American males are poor, illiterate, ignorant, dangerous, violent, thieves, athletic, lazy, loud, refer to their girlfriend or spouse as their “baby mama”, sag, wear braids, love to dance and use slang, and of course listen to rap music. These characteristics are not representative of all African American men. Yes, there are some who fit these characteristics perfectly, but surely not all of them. Research also shows how some people see African Americans especially, African American males differently. Sandra Graham and Brian Lowery conducted research on negative characteristics of African Americans. Graham and Lowery write: “There is much evidence that the cultural stereotypes of African Americans remain largely negative. Even though privately held beliefs about African Americans have become more positive over the last 50 years, studies of cultural stereotypes continue to show that respondents associate being Black (and male) with hostility, aggressiveness, violence, and danger” (Graham, and Lowery 484). Graham and Lowery’s key point is that although recently stereotypes on African Americans have got better. There are still some many negative stereotypes that surround African Americans especially African American males.

John Smith, a student at Louisiana State University, recalls a time when he was stereotyped. “I remember drive through the first entrance of my housing complex. I looked down for a moment, and the next thing I know a police car was blocking the entrance. The police officer approached my car, told me to get out, search my car, and then asked me to see my keys to my apartment. Before he left, I asked why was he did he do all of that, but I did not get an answer. The reason why is because he stopped me because I was a black man who was driving a nice car and listening to rap music. I felt like a fool.”

Now, most people never take into account is the perspective of the victims of stereotyping. How do these people feel about being stereotyped? What negative effects do stereotyping have? “Of course, I don’t like being stereotyped. I don’t think that it’s right. It makes me hate myself. I’m not a thug or a thief, and I never will be. So don’t judge me based on what others do”, said Travis Broussard, a student a Baton Rouge Community College. By stereotyping someone, you can damage their self esteem, caused them mental problems, and cause them to hate who they are. Steven F. Gray provides a great example that shows the effect of stereotyping. “One of the most famous examples of internalization of stereotypes is the experiment first used in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education. In this experiment black children were shown almost identical dolls, the only difference being skin color (one black, one white). When the children were asked which dolls were pretty, nice, smart, clean, etc. child after child pointed to the white doll. However, when asked which doll was ugly, dumb, dirty or evil the black doll was almost always selected” (Gray 1). Gray’s key point is that by stereotyping, black kids now think of themselves as dumb, ugly and dirty. This is a perfect example of what stereotyping does to a person. These kids in this experiment are young and they have already seen, heard or experience stereotyping which caused them to think of them in this way.

Now the question that I go back to is: is it ethical to stereotype someone based on what others do? Is it ethical to do something that will cause people to hate or harm themselves? Based on research and many interviews, I can say that many African Americans especially males hate that they were born a black because of been stereotyped so much. I can assert that stereotyping anyone is wrong because stereotypes are simply not accurate. Everyone in a particular group do not behave the same way. People are different, and they should be judged and treated solely on how they behave. However, some people will judge others only on the basis of how people similar to them act. Didn’t Martin Luther King say, “Don't judge me on the color of my skin, but the content of my character?”