This idea is everywhere. The idea that you hear about a teenager getting drunk and doing stupid things will make you look bad, even if you spend every Friday night watching Netflix. This idea is also in texting and driving. While texting and driving is very dangerous and many teenagers do it, the majority of people I see texting and driving are adults. We hear mostly about the teens texting and driving, and therefore ad companies aim their campaigns towards teens. We often here people talking about "those stupid kids these days." That puts a label on all "kids" as a whole.
If we identify as one race, or one culture, people will think of you in that category. You may lose some of your personality in the process because people often become so fixated on that one specific part of you.
I think you're right, sometimes the picture of individuals is lost and they are seen as part of a larger picture. This is the case for the narrator, he becomes invisible against the background of "his people". But, like you said, it applies to a lot of people today, like teens, and doesn't rely on race alone (ex. religious groups, like Muslims or Jews, and other minority groups).
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that part of the reason the narrator felt uncomfortable during Trueblood's story was due to social identity. It's weird to think you must take blame for someone else's actions because of a similarity you have with them (like race), yet you probably wouldn't feel like you could take credit for something positive that they did. I think the narrator's uncomfortableness also came from just the fact that Trueblood's story was so outrageous. I like how you related this to stereotyping! Interesting take on the scene's dynamic.
ReplyDeleteCool how you have projected this into other stereotypes that affect you and I as teens! I think you're right, but also I think race is different than other groups, and that even though teens can be categorized as solely the bad things they do, it only surfaces on their actions, not how they are as a people. Racism seems more deeply disturbing because you don't grow out of your race or choose to be in it. As a teen, we know we will be categorized as stupid, but that at some point we will be out of this phase. Religious based stereotyping touches on ways people decide to be, not how they're born.
ReplyDeleteI agree, though, with Iulianna and Grace. I think it's also interesting that the narrator got in some trouble for showing Mr. Norton that part of town because he "shouldn't see those type of things." Why do you think that is? Is the college town of black students supposed to be an idealized version of how blacks really act? Thanks for sharing!!
I totally agree with you on this. We all have a habit of grouping people together based on race, religion, age, gender, etc., but we seem to highlight the negatives rather than applaud the positives. More on what Carmen said, I thought that Bledsoe was angered with the narrator because the black community was in a one step forwards, two steps back situation at this time. Even though there were plenty of respectable, educated black men attending the college, men such as Trueblood are major setbacks because white people were looking for reasons to justify the inequality between themselves and black people. Letting them see people like Trueblood heightens their stereotypes and allows them to distance themselves more from black people as a whole.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, we allow people to put labels on certain denominations of people. People from all races are human, meaning that everyone lies, steals, etc... But that means that all people are also kind, caring, etc... So, in a way, it is impossible to label someone by their race, you cannot associate some characteristic with only one particular group of people. This was Atticus's argument in To Kill a Mockingbird.
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