Race, Ethnicity, and Discrimination

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Race can be closely matched to stereotyping. Someone's race is as unimportant as the car they drive. Yet both tell us something. It tells us how much better he or she is compared to another. It has nothing to do with that person's abilities or intelligence. The fact is a better car equals a better person. We see this not as a biological reason, but as a way that we divide ourselves as individuals. This is very similar to the "micro-level" of racism mentioned in the writing by Michael Omi and Howard Winant, which separates two people by a noticeable factor. This factor seems to be only a physical factor; it has nothing to do with a difference in biology. The "micro-level" of racism is tied to the "macro-level". The "macro-level" describes the entire group of individuals that show a certain set of difference that separate them from others. We can call these groups' stereotypes. When we look at a group of people that stand out from the norm, we put them into another category. The reason is to not overload ourselves with information. It is hard to remember everyone's individuality. That is why we stereotype people. However, we sometimes put a tag of superiority or inferiority onto a stereotype. We judge these stereotypes, and we do not even recognize the individuals in their group. Each person from that group has the same qualities as the stereotype describes. That is how we look at stereotypes. Racism is almost the exact same thing. We see an African American person and we think of them as a stereotypic African American. This is the same for other groups as well. It is such an easy way to group people together that our even our government stereotypes. It is too hard to help every individual, so the easiest thing to do is help out the general group. When the government helps out a group, the help does not directly help out the individual, but it helps out the majority of the group. Some individuals are then forgotten or received no help from the government at all. This can hurt some minorities economically if the government action does not get to them. Especially since minorities are sometimes hurt from stereotypic discrimination.

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