Essay On African American Stereotypes

One issue that many African Americans face today is stereotyping. Whether it's the seemingly innocent and playful stereotypes seen on comedy shows or racial profiling by police officers, to the black population, stereotyping is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. Whether or not we recognize it, almost all people of color have been stereotyped in one way or another.

Earlier this school year, I experienced racial stereotyping at my school. One of the clubs I am in has a tradition of giving everyone silly awards at the end of the season celebration. Most of the awards are playful and harmless, but the award I received was not. I was given the “Sassy Award”. When one looks up the word ‘sassy’ in a dictionary, they find a completely harmless definition, but that is not how I interpreted the award, as an African American woman. I wondered to myself why I, a quiet and witty person would be automatically categorized as …show more content…
In my opinion, this is one of the worst things we can do. By staying silent, we are accepting the instant of racism we see. The person then feels that their racism was appropriate, and will keep using the racist phrase or stereotype under the guise that “this black person said it was okay”. One reason people do not want stand up to racial stereotyping is that they do not want to make a big deal out of the situation or cause a scene. When I confronted the person who wrote the award, this is exactly what they tried to tell me. They said it was no big deal and that I was overreacting. It is important to realize that if we do not reject every instance of racism, we allow it to perpetuate in society. Even if it is just one person saying one word, rejecting every single instance of racism is the only way to let people know that what they are saying is not ok with us, or anyone else in the black