HongfeiYuan
ETHS100
12/15/2015
RacialStereotype
Stereotypesare a serious problem for the reason that they don’t depictprecisely the reality in our daily lives. Individuals tend to feelthat how they live is dictated by their race, gender, social behaviorand their personalities. People tend to feel ashamed whenever theytake part in certain activities or like certain things because of thepresence of typecasts. A perfect example is the Ferguson shooting. Awhite police officer shot a young African-American teenager by thename of Michael Brown back in 2014. From the intelligence receivedfollowing the case, Brown stole some packages of cigarillos from aconvenience store. After that, a white law enforcer was notified oftwo suspects.
Wilsoncame across Michael alongside his Ally-Johnson walking down themiddle of the street. He stopped them claiming they matched theidentity of the two black boys in pursuit. A confrontation followedas Michael and Wilson were struggling through the police vehicle’swindow. After that, Michael and Johnson ran away. Wilson chased them,and as he was trying to stop them, Michael stopped and turned to him.Michael started moving towards Wilson making him shoot him twelvetimes.
Everymedia that covered the report confirmed that Michael had indeedstolen from the shop which led to his shooting. However, as timepassed by, people came to the realization that the case didn’t onlyinvolve an unarmed black kid shot by a white law enforcer. Otherunderlying reasons needed clarification.
Gatheringintelligence from previous reports, Wilson stopped Michael andJohnson to inquire about the robbery at the shop. News broadcastersclaimed that Wilson gunshot Michael for the reason that they werestruggling in the car when Brown grasped for his weapon. The primalfocus was on the issue that whenever a police officer says the word“hands up,” the suspect puts his/her hands insinuating surrender.Therefore, the law enforcer shouldn’t shoot.
However,according to America today, this is a very controversial incident.The critics argue on two fronts. One, the fact that Wilson was unsureof Michael being the one behind the theft at the store before he shothim and two, that he just stopped Michael and Johnson because ofwalking in the middle of the street. These facts have borne manyopinions in the minds of people concerning the issue. Many witnessesas well have come clean with different pieces of evidence regardingthe turn of events on that particular day.
Inmy essay, I will draw on five concepts in the analysis of theFerguson shooting incident. As a way of putting into practice what Ihave learned from this course, I will explain from a different pointof view the Ferguson shooting case as well as, explain with reasonsthat racial typecasts still exist in the current society.
Inthe first video called Race Film 1 and dubbed “The Differencebetween Us” determines that race is just a biological fact but witha powerful social idea. People claim black people possess moreaggression hence they have a habit of committing crimes. From thefindings of the Ferguson incident, we can see a preconceived notionof blacks by Wilson. According to America, the only reason heconfronted them was that they were in the middle of the street. Froma different perspective, my opinion is that people of color have nobiologically aggressive behavior. Most of the people tend to thinkthat because of the powerful social ideas. Racial stereotypes are thereason people have bias opinions whenever they encounter an ethnicproblem.
Also,in Time Wise’s article regarding racism and the misconception ofindividual experience, the perception of selective memory is aperfect illustration on how people judge things using typecasts. Wisedescribes how people find justifications to exclude people of aparticular race. Primarily individuals label African American peopleas aggressive criminals. However, that doesn’t imply that the restof the races do not involve themselves in committing crimes. It isone typecast example as to why people have bias opinions. Say ifWilson had no idea of the theft at the shop, what reason would hehave given for stopping Michael and Johnson? If it were two whiteboys walking in the middle of the street, would he have confrontedthem? In my opinion, Wilson has a strong bias on racial issues. Theethnic stereotypes that corrupted his mind steered him to stopMichael and Johnson.
Thirdly,in the motion picture “The House We Live in”, I adopted theimpression that Native American people live in secluded places awayfrom the black people. People of color lack the chance to be wealthybringing about the inequalities in the American community. Blackpeople are always marked as a race drowning in poverty: proof of howethnic stereotypes work currently. Several people argue that Michaelwould not have died had he not stolen from the shop. From what Irealized from the film is that white people are wealthier than theblack people. The economic issue is the thorniest problem the peopleof color face. It puts black people in an embarrassing situationwhere they can’t afford the basics for the survival of theirchildren. The issue may be a reason why Wilson stopped the two boys.Therefore, in my opinion, the law enforcer had a high bias opinionthat black teenagers did not have enough money. Linking it with hisregard of people of color possessing violent manners, he judged themas suspects leading to the squabble.
Also,the motion picture “The Story We Tell”, the impression putsemphasis on the fact that all men are created equal. It also showsthat white people are superior both mentally and physically comparedto the black people. We humans were created equally and just becauseblacks have a darker pigment, doesn’t make them any different. Ionce experienced an incidence where two African American men werestrolling in the Bart station when three native American officersmoved towards them. The law enforcers probed them to remove what wasin their pockets. By the look of the two black men, they were afraid,so they stood there waiting for an inspection. The onlookers onlystood there and did not intervene. Just like Wilson in the Fergusonshooting, the law enforcers might not have had an idea of what thetwo lads had done before their confrontation. They only stopped thembecause of their skin colors. The concept of the film makes meconfident that majority of the people understand that creation isequal. However, we still choose to act differently from what is true.Therefore, racial discrimination still exists and it upsets the waypeople live and work daily.
Lastly,from the article “The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap”,there is an eye-catching theory.The gap in the college education isever increasing, and lack of resources is the primal explanationbehind the status quo. When talking about the education background ofAfrican American people, people think they are not evenly educatedcompared to white people due to the lack of resources. I happen tohave several African American friends. They are quite literate andpossess courteous manners. People’s bias opinion on black peopleare not educated is a perfect illustration revealing how people stillregard racially typecasts in judging black people. The Fergusonshooting incident is in criticism as a racial issue. It, therefore,means that Wilson had bias stereotypes in his judgment of the twoblack boys. Lack of education doesn’t necessarily make people havehigh tendencies in crime. Well- educated people still pose ascriminals.
Inconclusion, the five notions derived from different bases, i.e.,powerful social idea, selective memory, inequality of wealth, humanequality and lack education balances my analysis on the Fergusonscase. People ought not to critic others from what they go throughdaily. Individuals ought to reach both sides of the situation orthing to issue balanced opinions. They should aim at avoiding thedangerous impacts from typecasting especially the racial ones thatruin our amazing lives.