Criminal Sentencing Question

[Bengalzona]

(08-04-2016, 10:25 AM)Beaker Wrote: What if it's a good stereotype? Is it still racist to use it? "Asians are better at math" vs "Asians are bad drivers". Does the connotation of the stereotype make it racist, or are all generalizations racist?

Even when the stereotype is of something that is generally considered positive by most people, it can negatively impact people. For example, what if you are an Asian person who is bad at math. Wouldn't you have additional pressure put on you by teachers and others?

I'll give an example that happened to a good friend of mine. My college friend Matt was very tall (7' 2"). Everywhere he went, it was assumed that he was good at basketball. In fact, he was not. He was pretty freaking lousy. But, that didn't stop people from believing that "with just a little bit of hard work, he could be great!!!" And throughout school, he was repeatedly coerced to join the basketball team and he was repeatedly laughed at and ridiculed by fans. Thus, he hated basketball (violently) and was very self-conscious about his height.  

We all stereotype. But not all of us are open-minded enough to get past the stereotypes and consider the individual.