Everyone Is Equal

Everyone Is Equal

Using stereotypes to classify certain racial groups and genders is extremely prevalent in our society today. More and more people today rely on typical stereotypes to get an instant impression of someone whom they have never met. If the person meets one aspect of the stereotype, then the person applying the stereotype gains a sort of confirmation that the stereotype is true. These, among others, are the types of pre-judgments that tear our society apart.

Unfortunately, our society today has raised us the wrong way. Everywhere we look somebody is using slanderous comments or stereotypes which really do affect us. Whether it is a judge, an officer, a politician, a teacher, or even a student, stereotypes are widespread in our society.

Affirmative action is one major problem that causes people to judge other races. If looked at from the perspective of equality, the idea of the program completely argues with equality. Saying that certain races need a “hand up” because they are among a minority who has experienced discrimination for years is like saying that they are incompetent and can not survive on their own. “Racial preferences violate the 14th

Amendment guarantee of equal protection for everybody under the law, and also the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race and sex” (Issues). According to the law, every aspect of affirmative action is illegal, but it is all over and it is affecting many people. We are so ignorant in a sense that we do not realize that we are hurting fellow man with our words.

Criminal profiling is also an area that receives a large amount of stereotyping among races. In many cases, the application of criminal profiling can be very useful in helping solve crimes. Using information from previous cases with similar information can help investigators solve a crime in a much more time efficient manner. Other times it can lead investigators in the wrong direction, allowing valuable time for a criminal to commit another viscous crime. This may cause authorities to “subject innocent people to scrutiny for no good reason” (Criminal). The use of stereotypes in criminal profiling is being abused. Inaccuracies may be made; innocent men may be sitting behind bars. These pre-judgments outrage me. How would you feel if you were the one sitting in jail for a crime that you really didn’t commit? Only you and god know, but you are rotting away in jail for someone else who is still out on the streets all because of someone’s stereotype. One should think twice before they use stereotypes because many people, possible even yourself, are being affected.

Stereotyping can sometimes be very destructive to someone’s own self-esteem. Amy Tan displays a great show of her disgust with her Chinese self in her essay “Fish Cheeks,” when she wishes for “a slim new American nose”