Psychological Impact of Racism

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Let's take a closer look. I also attached one supporting article, some of which this response is drawn.

RESPONSE:

Racism is a "belief that one race is superior to another", whereas a stereotype is a "generalized image of a person or group, which does not acknowledge individual differences and which is often prejudicial to that person or group." prejudice is (http://remember.org/guide/History.root.stereotypes.html) On the other hand, "prejudice refers to a positive or a negative attitude or belief directed toward certain people based on their membership in a particular group....It is "a set of attitudes which causes, supports, or justifies discrimination. Prejudice refers to a tendency to "over categorize." Prejudiced people respond to others in a more or less fixed way" (Farley, 2000,18, cited in http://www.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/race/far-02.htm).

However, the three concepts, stereotyping, prejudice and racism are interrelated and impact the development of a diverse individual negatively. For example:

1. Stereotyping often results from, and leads to, prejudice and bigotry.
2. Unchecked prejudice and bigotry leads to discrimination, violence, and, in extreme cases, genocide, along racial or ethnic lines.
3. Prejudice can be spread by the use of propaganda and inflamed by demagogues.
4. Language, particularly slang, is often used to dehumanize members of certain groups of people, and this dehumanization is a precursor of discrimination, isolation, and violence. (http://remember.org/guide/History.root.stereotypes.html)

Stereotypes

Stereotypes are "generalizations about a person or group of persons that people develop over time" (http://remember.org/guide/History.root.stereotypes.html) that cause harm to an individual who feels isolated, different and misunderstood. Stereotypes are a result of different socio-political factors, such as political ideology and policies, family views, media, and so on. Some stereotypes aere genrationla, while others form "when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all of the information we would need to make fair judgments about people or situations. In the absence of the "total picture," stereotypes in many cases allow us to "fill in the blanks."" Our society, through ideology, laws and policies can also create and perpetuate stereotypes, i.e., segregation of Black Americans, women not allowed to vote (1929) because they were not considered person's under the law, perpetrated the stereotype that woman were less than men in our society, etc.; "these stereotypes often lead to unfair discrimination and persecution when the stereotype is unfavorable" (http://remember.org/guide/History.root.stereotypes.html).

On example to consider:

"...if we are walking through a park late at night and encounter three senior citizens wearing fur coats and walking with canes, we may not feel as threatened as if we were met by three high school-aged boys wearing leather jackets. Why is this so? We have made a generalization in each case. These generalizations have their roots in experiences we have had ourselves, read about ...