Being born a minority in America, you're automatically placed in a "box" that you're supposed to fit into. It is strange and frustrating at times. Most of the time we ignore it and refuse to allow those things to affect our decisions and interactions; however, these thoughts are always in the back of our minds.
As an African American, I’m often reminded of the stereotypes that are held about Black people and how they affect the way I interact with others. For example, I recently went to an H-Mart with a group of friends to buy some snacks and drinks for a picnic we were having. I am the only Black person in my group. (My friends are Honduran-Puerto Rican, Laotian-Filipino, and Chinese). Inside the store were a mixture of primarily white and Asian people. I immediately felt uncomfortable. I did not know how they would perceive me. Would they treat me differently than they did their other customers? I was afraid that they would view me through the lens of a Black stereotype. It made me very self-conscious of my skin color, my actions, and my speech. If I messed up, it made me wonder if it would change the way the other customers perceived Black people in general. Granted I was assuming what people were thinking about me (and still do to this day), but those assumptions were based on what I have been taught and what has been experienced by my family and people within the black community.
America is not a post-racist society. As an African American, I am aware of that. People judge you based on your skin color and assume things about you. For example, many Black people enter stores under the scrutiny of managers, security, and sometimes other customers who assume they are there to shoplift.
They have no reason to expect that of me or any other Black person entering the establishment except for my skin color, the way I talk, or even the way I conduct myself. These expectations and experiences cause me to monitor myself and conduct myself in a way so I could be seen as someone outside of the general stereotype.
A month after our first trip to the H- later my friends and I went to a different Hmart, where I saw another Black woman shopping. Seeing her made me feel at ease. I saw someone who looked like me comfortably (I assume) walking around in a place where Black people are not typically known to shop. I had assumed that an environment made up of minorities would lead to a sense of acceptance, but my assumption was wrong.
Stereotypes are harmful and can influence anyone no matter their cultural background. They can be held by anyone even if they have found themselves on the receiving end of stereotypical behavior. They place you in a box and limit your interactions and reactions, explicitly and implicitly. As an African American I notice thesethings happening around me and would like to know how Asian Americans feel about the stereotypes that people have about them and how it impacts their decision making. In particular, are you worried about how stereotypes make the people around you think about you? How they treat you? Do you feel less accepted when around different minority groups or individuals? Do you feel like people treat you differently specifically because of your ethnicity?
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