Humans naturally seek to understand and almost always are quick to judge a book by its cover, but what can be the long-term consequences of such hasty generalizations? Prejudice. One of the two Merriam-Webster definitions for this word is “an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.” Forms of prejudice are everywhere throughout our daily lives whether we can acknowledge it or not; in the media, our beliefs, in academic instruction, law, and most importantly in our tailored perceptions. These daily prejudices can inflict ache at the individual, social, political, and national level, but just as easily can be shattered. In order to breakdown this false prejudice mentality, it needs to be fought again
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What we indulge in through media, written text, and daily converse should not be overlooked, like everything, without a bit of skepticism. One extremely good example is shown through the 2004 film Crash. One of the scenes in this film takes place in a movie studio with two directors arguing over how an African American actor is presenting himself in a take. The directors argue that this actor is not speaking in a “black tone,” saying “…don’t talk to me about that” instead of “…don’t be talkin’ ‘bout that.” The only base of this claim being that this character will “ring false” with the shows audience. Another example can be shown through any media’s coverage on professional athletes in America. After surveying all professional sports teams in 2008, Jon Entine figured that 80% of the NBA players are African American, and the same goes for 67% of the NFL. This is considerable due to the fact that only 13% of the United States population is of African American decent. After asking sports fans their estimates of how many African Americans make up professional athletes, their responses entailed “ten million,” “500,000,” and “50,000.” The real number – 1,200. The reason for these radical guesses are due to the sport media’s endless highlight reels of slam dunks and touchdowns specifically connected to African American players. The reason I bring up this example is because the media can be a powerful influence over anything, and in this case
What we indulge in through media, written text, and daily converse should not be overlooked, like everything, without a bit of skepticism. One extremely good example is shown through the 2004 film Crash. One of the scenes in this film takes place in a movie studio with two directors arguing over how an African American actor is presenting himself in a take. The directors argue that this actor is not speaking in a “black tone,” saying “…don’t talk to me about that” instead of “…don’t be talkin’ ‘bout that.” The only base of this claim being that this character will “ring false” with the shows audience. Another example can be shown through any media’s coverage on professional athletes in America. After surveying all professional sports teams in 2008, Jon Entine figured that 80% of the NBA players are African American, and the same goes for 67% of the NFL. This is considerable due to the fact that only 13% of the United States population is of African American decent. After asking sports fans their estimates of how many African Americans make up professional athletes, their responses entailed “ten million,” “500,000,” and “50,000.” The real number – 1,200. The reason for these radical guesses are due to the sport media’s endless highlight reels of slam dunks and touchdowns specifically connected to African American players. The reason I bring up this example is because the media can be a powerful influence over anything, and in this case