Most people feel that they know all about stereotypes and probably think they know most of their risks, but that is not the case. The definition of a stereotype is any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Stereotypes are often created about people of specific cultures or races, but everyone can be affected by stereotyping which makes it a big, ongoing problem to this day. There are many ways to stereotype a person, such as, all white Americans are obese, lazy, and dumb; men who spend too much time on the computer or read are geeks; all Mexicans are lazy and come into America illegally; all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists; or even positive stereotypes, like that all Americans are friendly, generous,
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Their success proves that a stereotype does not and should not define who people are or what they are capable of doing. By stereotyping groups of people, not just immigrants, it hurts society, limits the success of people, and undercuts motivation. In Spare Parts, one of the main stereotypes is found to be that all illegal or undocumented immigrants are inferior to white American citizens and insignificant to our society. Classifying all immigrants, specifically Hispanic immigrants, in Spare Parts, as not worthy or good enough, causes others to have preconceived notions about them. Instead of seeing these immigrants for who they are, they are judged by how they speak, the color of their skin, or just by the words of others. As mentioned in Spare Parts there are four boys – Christian, Lorenzo, and Oscar – who are undocumented because their families brought them to America illegally at a young age. Throughout the book, they struggle with feeling inferior to those who are “legal”, and have to fear being deported just based on their skin tone or ethnicity. Joshua Davis …show more content…
Davis quotes Patrick J. Buchanan, a presidential hopeful and author of a book on anti-immigration, “They weren’t here to work; they were here to apply for welfare” (35). Buchanan’s stereotype portrays immigrants in a negative way, making others believe that they only come here to live off welfare and do not want to contribute to society or the economy, but this is incorrect. In Spare Parts, Joshua Davis writes based on the true stories of four undocumented teens, who all prove this stereotype wrong. Though Luis Aranda has a green card and did not have to worry about immigration as the others did, he still worked very hard to help out his family. Davis describes Luis’s routine saying, “From age eleven onward, he’d get out of school at 3:00 and work at the restaurant from 4:00 to 10:00p.m.” (82). Having started working from a young age Luis exemplifies his strong work ethic and determination towards having a better life. Additionally, Oscar Vazquez overcomes this stereotype by not only joining the ROTC but also excelling and quickly climbing up the leadership ladder, showing that not only did Oscar want to be a part of something, he also wants to help this country even though he was not born here. Oscar later finds out that he cannot enlist due to his status as being an undocumented immigrant, but he does not let that stop him. (5) He joins the robotics club and
Their success proves that a stereotype does not and should not define who people are or what they are capable of doing. By stereotyping groups of people, not just immigrants, it hurts society, limits the success of people, and undercuts motivation. In Spare Parts, one of the main stereotypes is found to be that all illegal or undocumented immigrants are inferior to white American citizens and insignificant to our society. Classifying all immigrants, specifically Hispanic immigrants, in Spare Parts, as not worthy or good enough, causes others to have preconceived notions about them. Instead of seeing these immigrants for who they are, they are judged by how they speak, the color of their skin, or just by the words of others. As mentioned in Spare Parts there are four boys – Christian, Lorenzo, and Oscar – who are undocumented because their families brought them to America illegally at a young age. Throughout the book, they struggle with feeling inferior to those who are “legal”, and have to fear being deported just based on their skin tone or ethnicity. Joshua Davis …show more content…
Davis quotes Patrick J. Buchanan, a presidential hopeful and author of a book on anti-immigration, “They weren’t here to work; they were here to apply for welfare” (35). Buchanan’s stereotype portrays immigrants in a negative way, making others believe that they only come here to live off welfare and do not want to contribute to society or the economy, but this is incorrect. In Spare Parts, Joshua Davis writes based on the true stories of four undocumented teens, who all prove this stereotype wrong. Though Luis Aranda has a green card and did not have to worry about immigration as the others did, he still worked very hard to help out his family. Davis describes Luis’s routine saying, “From age eleven onward, he’d get out of school at 3:00 and work at the restaurant from 4:00 to 10:00p.m.” (82). Having started working from a young age Luis exemplifies his strong work ethic and determination towards having a better life. Additionally, Oscar Vazquez overcomes this stereotype by not only joining the ROTC but also excelling and quickly climbing up the leadership ladder, showing that not only did Oscar want to be a part of something, he also wants to help this country even though he was not born here. Oscar later finds out that he cannot enlist due to his status as being an undocumented immigrant, but he does not let that stop him. (5) He joins the robotics club and